President Donald Trump offered a new detail about his experience after 9/11, claiming two firefighters once lifted him off his feet and rushed him away from a building they feared could collapse.
The president shared the story on Tuesday during a Tunnel to Towers Foundation commemoration ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“They grabbed me under the arms, said, ‘Got to get out of here,’” Trump, 80, told the crowd. “And they literally lifted me up.”
Trump said the firefighters began running with him before he protested, “Fellas, I can run myself.” He identified the building as the former U.S. Steel Building, now known as One Liberty Plaza.
Trump claims he was basically lifted out of the rubble on 9/11: "Two fireman, big strong guys, they grabbed me under the arms — 'got to get our of here!' — and they literally lifted me up, and they started running with me." pic.twitter.com/63k48q7o4d
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 8, 2026
The story quickly went viral because no public evidence has emerged confirming the episode. Trump was not near the World Trade Center when the planes struck, and previous efforts to verify his claims that he brought a large crew to Ground Zero have come up short.
Richard Alles, a retired FDNY deputy chief who spent months at the site, previously said, “I never witnessed him,” adding that he did not know what role Trump could have played.
The White House defended Trump’s remarks but did not provide additional records supporting the account.
Spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump was recalling his experience in New York “immediately after and in the days and weeks after” the attacks.