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Donald Trump makes extraordinary new claim about being rescued during 9/11
Donald Trump faces backlash again following his latest unsubstantiated claims about his whereabouts during 9/11.
The United States and the wider world are bracing themselves for the emotional 25th anniversary of the terrorist attack, which claimed 2,977 lives, leaving thousands more injured.
Trump's extraordinary new claims about his whereabouts during 9/11
Following events on that fateful day in September 2001, the current US leader has given several contrasting statements about where he was during the attacks on the Twin Towers.
Having recently claimed that he had visited what is now known as Ground Zero a matter of days after the towers fell, with a team of construction workers — claims that were later dismissed — Trump has now provided further unproven detail.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Trump regaled another baseless tale of purported heroism; this time, he claimed that he had been carried away by firefighters due to concern around an imminent building collapse.
While there is some possibility that these claims are actually true, evidence of it remains to be seen.
While delivering an address at an event that paid tribute to 9/11 first responders, Trump said: “ I was building a big building in New York, and I took the whole crew down there right after this happened. And they were — they had no hesitation — everybody went down with me. We went down; it was a big group of people. Wasn’t too much we could do.
“I’ll be honest — it was, you know, it was raw, and nobody’s seen anything like it, ever. We had other buildings; the United States Steel building was creaking, really creaking, and we thought it was going to fall down; the truth is it creaked a lot, it creaked. It still creaks. But it never came down, and I re(member) — I’ll never forget two firemen.”
After eyebrows were raised over his initial statement, it was his next assertion that really had many disbelieving the US leader.
“We thought it was coming down on top of us, and two firemen — big, strong guys — and I’m not the smallest guy in the world — they grabbed me under the arms, said, ‘Gotta get out of here.’ And they literally lifted me up.
“This is not easy to do. I’m big. They lifted me up and they started running with me. I said, ‘Fellas, I can run myself.’ But they were amazing, but they thought it was coming down; it didn’t come down. US Steel.”
Trump's claims remain unsubstantiated according to reports
According to reports, Trump was nowhere near the World Trade Center during 9/11, and was not rescued by firemen on that day.
The White House has not responded after it was approached for comment, although in an unsigned email on Tuesday it said: “He was a private citizen at the time; not everything he did was documented.”
Trump later took to social media on Tuesday following the event, stating: “Everything I said was exactly accurate.”