Honoring 9/11 heroes, Trump repeats disputed account of his role in recovery
“The man in the red bandanna has become more famous than me,” Trump said during the speech on the Ellipse, where he awarded a posthumous Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther. “I don’t like it.”
At an event where he awarded the Medal of Freedom posthumously to a man who died saving multiple people on Sept. 11, 2001, President Donald Trump returned to a disputed account of his own role in ground zero recovery efforts.
Trump gave the nation’s highest civilian honor on Tuesday to the family of Welles Crowther, a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter who saved an estimated 18 people before dying in the World Trade Center’s South Tower. Crowther has become known as “the man in the red bandanna” because of the cloth he tied around his nose and mouth to protect against heavy smoke while helping people out of the burning building.
“The man in the red bandanna has become more famous than me,” Trump said during the speech on the Ellipse, where a steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center was on display. “I don’t like it.”
Before recounting Crowther’s heroic acts, Trump claimed that he took “a big group of people” working on his building to ground zero to help in the aftermath of the attacks, re-upping widely disputed claims that he played a role in the response. Trump did not specify how soon after the attacks they went to ground zero. Richard Alles, a retired New York City Fire Department battalion chief, told PolitiFact in 2019 that he had “no knowledge” of Trump being at the site and said that there would be a record if Trump had sent a crew of 100 workers.
There are videos of Trump in a suit in the neighborhood near ground zero days after the attacks, but not at the site of the disaster.
Trump War Room, an X account for Trump’s political operation, posted a video recorded on Sept. 13, 2001, that showed Trump claiming that “has about 100 men working down here” and “was just down at Ground Zero.” The White House did not respond when asked for records that corroborate Trump had workers involved in the recovery.
Trump on Tuesday also claimed that two firefighters carried him away when it appeared the U.S. Steel Building, now known as One Liberty Plaza, could also collapse. The president did not specify when, exactly, this incident occurred, and the White House did not respond to a request for the date.
“We thought it was coming down on top of us,” Trump said. “And two firemen, big strong guys. … They grabbed me under the arms.”
Trump told a version of the story about being evacuated by firefighters on the campaign trail in 2016. At the time, he said that it was a couple of days after the other buildings collapsed and said that the building was “not so far from us,” suggesting he was not inside the building.
Trump’s exaggerations and fabrications related to the terrorist attacks have generated controversy for years. In 2015, he falsely claimed during a rally that “thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down.” He claimed the celebrations occurred in Jersey City, which he said has “large Arab populations.” He doubled down on the claim even when told police said such celebrations never occurred. In 2016, Trump claimed that he “helped a little bit” with clearing the rubble after the attacks, which has not been corroborated by first responders or media coverage.
Tuesday’s event was organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which assists the families of Sept. 11 first responders and has transported the steel beam from the World Trade Center to landmarks around the country, including the Space Center in Houston, Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, and MLB games.
First responders and the families of those who died responding to the attacks entered the event Tuesday on a blue carpet flanked by red, white, and blue flowers and portraits of the firefighters, police officers, and medical professionals who died responding to the attacks. Several cabinet officials attended, including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. On Sept. 11, Lutnick was the chairperson of Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost 658 of its employees in the attacks, including his younger brother, Gary. Lutnick was taking his son to his first day of kindergarten when the terrorists struck.
Trump is expected to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on Friday at the Pentagon before flying to Ireland for a tournament at Trump International Golf Links Ireland. All of the living former U.S. presidents are expected to attend a memorial at ground zero in New York, which the White House has said Vice President JD Vance will attend. Trump did not respond when reporters asked why he could not go to both the Pentagon and ground zero.
In Washington on Tuesday, Trump presented the Medal of Freedom to Crowther’s mother, Alison Crowther, and his sister, Paige Crowther Charbonneau. Alison Crowther said she sees how young people continue to be inspired by her son as she travels to schools to speak about his legacy.
“Twenty-five years after September 11th, his life continues to remind us of something very simple,” she said. “In moments when others need us, each of us has the power to keep courage, compassion, and service. That’s the real meaning of the red bandanna: To be courageous, to find the good, and to be the good.”
