Trump’s bizarre new 9/11 story about what happened to him sparks outrage as it’s slammed as blatant lie

President Donald Trump has revived a story about being carried away from danger near Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, one first responders and historians have never been able to verify.

He described being grabbed by two firefighters as a nearby building appeared close to collapse, telling the crowd, 'And two firemen, big strong guys… They grabbed me under the arms.'

Trump made the remarks on Tuesday during an event on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., where he awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, to the family of Welles Crowther.

Crowther, a 24-year-old equities trader and volunteer firefighter, died in the World Trade Center's South Tower after saving an estimated 18 people, and became known as 'the man in the red bandanna' for the cloth he tied over his face to shield himself from smoke.

Who is Welles Crowther, 'the man in the red bandanna'?

Crowther's mother, Alison Crowther, and sister, Paige Crowther Charbonneau, accepted the medal on his behalf.

Alison Crowther told the crowd, "Twenty five years after September 11th, his life continues to remind us of something very simple," adding, "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."

Trump appeared to acknowledge Crowther's legacy overshadowing his own, telling the crowd, 'The man in the red bandanna has become more famous than me. I don't like it.'

Did Trump help at Ground Zero after 9/11?

The event was organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which has transported a recovered World Trade Center steel beam to sites including Mount Rushmore. (Photo by Finn Gomez/Getty Images)

Before honoring Crowther, Trump repeated a long-disputed claim that he brought 'a big group of people' from his construction company to Ground Zero to assist in the recovery, without saying how soon after the attacks this happened. Richard Alles, a retired New York City Fire Department battalion chief, told PolitiFact in 2019 he had 'no knowledge' of Trump being at the site, and said a crew of 100 workers would have left a record.

Video footage does show Trump in a suit near Ground Zero days after the attacks, but not at the site of the collapse itself. A separate clip, resurfaced by the pro-Trump account Trump War Room, shows him claiming on September 13, 2001, that he had 'about 100 men working down here' and 'was just down at Ground Zero.'

Trump also claimed Tuesday that two firefighters evacuated him when the nearby U.S. Steel Building, now One Liberty Plaza, appeared at risk of collapse, saying, 'We thought it was coming down on top of us.'

He gave a similar account in 2016, that time saying the building was 'not so far from us,' implying he hadn't been inside it.

His history includes other disputed 9/11 claims, including a 2015 assertion that 'thousands and thousands of people were cheering' as the towers fell in New Jersey, and a 2016 claim he 'helped a little bit' clearing rubble.

Tuesday's ceremony was organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, which supports families of fallen first responders and has toured a recovered WTC steel beam to sites including Mount Rushmore and Major League Baseball stadiums. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, whose brother Gary died at Cantor Fitzgerald on 9/11, was among the Cabinet officials in attendance.

The White House said in a statement seen by CNN: “He was a private citizen at the time, not everything he did was documented.”

Spokesperson Davis Ingle told media yesterday afternoon: “President Trump spent the morning paying tribute to the heroic first responders who laid down their lives in service to others in the September 11th attacks and honoring their incredible families.

"The President was relaying his experience of a city reeling immediately after and in the days and weeks after the horrific attacks, and the fact that the failing legacy media is using this to try to attack him is a disgrace and yet another reason why Americans’ trust in the media is at an all-time low."

The White House has been approached for comment.