As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, most Americans are preparing to remember the nearly 3,000 people who were killed, the firefighters and first responders who ran toward danger, and the families whose lives were changed forever.
Donald Trump, apparently, has another memory to share: one in which he is increasingly starring in the story.
Trump is once again recounting his experiences around Ground Zero, claiming he was there almost immediately after the attacks and worked alongside first responders. The problem? The details of this increasingly cinematic version of events have not been substantiated by the historical record.
According to reporting cited in the controversy, Trump has repeatedly claimed that he sent hundreds of his own workers to Ground Zero. He has also described being near the disaster site and, in a newer version of the story, says firefighters physically moved him away because a building appeared to be collapsing.
There is one small issue with the blockbuster version: credible accounts and fact-checks have found no evidence that Trump participated in the rescue operation in the way he now describes. A former FDNY deputy chief who spent months at Ground Zero said he had no knowledge of Trump being there in the immediate aftermath.
Even the buildings seem to have gotten a Trump-style upgrade. In a recent interview, Trump reportedly referred to the Twin Towers as 115 stories tall. They were actually 110 stories.
Because apparently 9/11 needed a little inflation, too.
Trump has long spoken about his proximity to the attacks, including a bizarrely timed comment on September 11, 2001, about his 40 Wall Street building becoming the tallest in Lower Manhattan after the Twin Towers collapsed. His claims about sending workers to Ground Zero have also been repeatedly questioned for lack of supporting evidence.
The larger issue isn’t just whether Trump’s recollection has changed over the years. It’s that September 11 is one of the most documented and consequential events in modern American history.
There are real heroes from that day. They don’t need embellished résumés.
And unlike Trump’s latest version, their stories don’t need a rewrite every anniversary.
