Trump does not attend 9/11 memorial ceremony - falsely claims he helped after the attacks

On Friday, all living US presidents will participate in a ceremony at the site where the Twin Towers stood in lower Manhattan until 25 years ago. George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

But not Trump.

The ceremony at ground zero is traditionally very low-key. The names of the nearly 3,000 victims are read out, and many of their relatives are present.

When Trump realized he would not be allowed to give a speech, he chose not to attend, the New York Times recently revealed. He will instead be at the Pentagon outside Washington on Friday, then travel to his golf course in Ireland.

On Tuesday, however, the president gave a speech about the September 11 attacks, when relatives of firefighters were awarded medals in Washington.

He, who at the time was a well-known New York real estate magnate, spoke about his own role after the attacks.

- I just want to thank my guys. I took a lot of my men down there right after it happened. They didn't hesitate, they all went down there with me. We were a large group that came.

He then claimed he was in danger inside a building that was about to collapse.

- I will never forget the two firemen. We thought it was going to collapse on us, and two firemen - big strong guys - grabbed me under the arms and said "we have to get out of here". They literally lifted me up… And then they started running with me.

But what Trump says is misleading. It shows fact-checkers in American media such as CNN and PBS.

He was not near the Twin Towers on 9/11, but in Trump Tower, more than five miles away. There is also no information that any "large group" of his employees would have helped in the rescue or clearance work.

A White House spokesperson later on Tuesday commented on this by attacking the media:

"That the failed mainstream media is using this to try to attack the president is shameful, and yet another reason why Americans' trust in the media is at rock bottom."

Late that evening, Trump wrote in a long post on his platform Truth Social that "everything I said was correct":

"I was there, obviously not the day the buildings collapsed, but shortly after, with a large group of construction workers."

What Trump evidently did an hour or so after the terrorist attack was to allow himself to be interviewed by telephone by the television station WWOR. He then focused on the fact that a building he himself owned, 40 Wall Street, was now the tallest in lower Manhattan because the WTC towers were no longer there.

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