WASHINGTON (VINnews) — President Donald Trump posted archival video Wednesday showing himself in Lower Manhattan days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying the footage supports his account that he went to the area with a large group of construction workers.
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Trump said he was not at the World Trade Center when the towers collapsed but went to the area shortly afterward with workers from his company. The footage confirms that Trump was in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 13, 2001.
But the video does not establish that Trump brought more than 100 construction workers to Ground Zero or that his employees participated in the recovery operation.
Richard Alles, a former FDNY battalion chief who spent months working at Ground Zero, disputed that claim in a 2019 interview with PolitiFact. Alles said there “would be a record” if Trump had sent 100 workers to the site because “everybody worked under direct supervision of the police and fire department and the joint commander for emergency services.” Alles also said he knew of no one who had witnessed Trump at the site.
Trump has also said that two firefighters physically carried him away from a nearby building because it appeared to be in danger of collapsing. That account has not been corroborated by available evidence.
The distinction is significant. The newly posted video provides evidence that Trump was in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 13, but it does not independently establish his claims about deploying a large construction crew to the Ground Zero recovery operation or being carried to safety by firefighters.
Trump’s account has come under renewed scrutiny as the 25th anniversary of the attacks approaches.