Trump is doubling down on his 9/11 Ground Zero rescue claims, dragging reporters into a brutal fight over the official record

Donald Trump is refusing to back down from his account of being at Ground Zero after the September 11 attacks, even as reporters continue to question parts of the story. The president now says everything he described about his experience was “exactly accurate” and has accused the media of deliberately misrepresenting what happened.

Per NYTimes, Trump’s latest defense came after he described being carried to safety by two firefighters when the nearby U.S. Steel Building appeared to be in danger of collapsing. He also repeated his claim that he went to Lower Manhattan with a large group of construction workers to help with the recovery effort.

The problem for the president is that the available record does not establish several of the details he has described. There are photographs and videos showing Trump in Lower Manhattan after the attacks, but no verified evidence has surfaced confirming that firefighters carried him away from a collapsing building.

The fight is now over what the record actually shows

Trump’s Truth Social post specifically attacked New York Magazine and reporter Maggie Haberman for questioning his account. He insisted that footage of him in the area proves his critics are wrong, while also saying his security chief, Matthew Calamari, has repeatedly confirmed the trip.

That footage in his post does establish that Trump was in Lower Manhattan after the attacks. It does not, on its own, establish that he was present for the firefighter rescue he described or that he brought the large recovery crew he has claimed. PolitiFact also reported that a former New York City fire battalion chief involved in the recovery said he had no knowledge of Trump being at Ground Zero or bringing 100 or more workers.

The White House has not produced records that settle those disputed details. Instead, spokesman Davis Ingle accused the media of using Trump’s comments as an attack and argued that the scrutiny was another reason Americans should distrust the press.

Trump has now turned the dispute into a broader fight over his credibility and the media’s reporting. His own post demands a retraction while insisting that he was at the World Trade Center site “as soon as the Law allowed.” The evidence currently available only confirms his presence in the surrounding area after the attacks.