Trump's 9/11 claims about Ground Zero work face scrutiny
Former president's accounts of his actions after the attacks have been questioned by first responders and fact-checkers.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Donald Trump claimed ‘we worked long and hard’ on a construction project in New York City one day after September 11, 2001 attacks (Reuters)
Photograph: The Independent (US) (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Donald Trump stated he went to Ground Zero the day after the 9/11 attacks with construction workers and they 'worked long and hard'.
- Trump also claimed he witnessed the second plane crash into the Twin Towers.
- First responders and individuals at Ground Zero have stated they did not see Trump there.
- Previous fact-checking has found insufficient evidence to substantiate Trump's claims about the size of the workforce he brought to Ground Zero.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 6 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 1 of the 7 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
60/100
Hype
41/100
7 sources · methodology
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed he was present at Ground Zero in the days following the 11 September 2001 attacks and participated in recovery efforts. In a recent interview with Fox News host Trey Gowdy, Trump stated he went to the site the day after the attacks with construction workers from a building project he was undertaking in New York. He told Gowdy that they 'worked long and hard' at the site.
Trump also recounted witnessing the second plane strike the Twin Towers, stating, 'I watched that happen. And I said, ‘wow, we are now in a different time.’' He told Gowdy that he had construction workers with him 'very, very quickly afterwards' the day after the attacks, as the day of the attack itself was too soon to access the site.
Disputed presence at Ground Zero
First responders and individuals who were at Ground Zero in the immediate aftermath of the attacks have stated they did not see Donald Trump there. Richard Alles, a former deputy chief with the New York Fire Department who was at the site for months, told The New York Times he 'never witnessed' Trump there. He added, 'I have no knowledge of his being down there.' While acknowledging the possibility that Trump could have been there alone and unobserved, Alles stated, 'I know of no one who ever witnessed him there.'
What the coverage left out
None of the left-rated reports below mention the claim by Donald Trump that one of his properties, 40 Wall Street, is now the tallest building in lower Manhattan. The Independent's full report includes this claim, stating Trump said, '40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan... And now it's the tallest.'
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 1 time, most recently on 7 Sept 2026, 21:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
Trump's 9/11 claims about Ground Zero work face scrutiny
IBTimes UK — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
6 rated outlets
- The left-rated reports focused on Donald Trump's claims about his actions at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent challenges to those accounts. The Independent, in its full report, detailed Trump's repeated assertions of being at the site and working with first responders, noting that 'first responders, who say they never saw him on the ground.' The report quoted Trump telling Fox News's Trey Gowdy that he 'went down' to Ground Zero the day after the attacks with construction workers and that they 'worked long and hard.' The Independent also highlighted Trump's past claims, including stating he witnessed the second plane crash and that his property at 40 Wall Street is now the tallest building in lower Manhattan, which it described as a 'dubious claim.' IBTimes UK also focused on Trump's 'worked long and hard' comment, noting that his claims have been disputed and that previous fact-checking found 'insufficient evidence to substantiate some of his claims about the size of the workforce he says he brought to Ground Zero.' Raw Story's digest stated Trump was 'brutally fact-checked over tale of 9/11 heroism,' quoting a commentator calling the story 'Give me a break.' The Daily Boulder's digest highlighted that 'First responders say they never saw him there,' directly contrasting Trump's claims with the accounts of those present at the site. vt.co's digest reported Trump was 'accused of ‘lying’ over bizarre 9/11 claims.' Mediaite's digest used Trump's quote 'We Worked Long And Hard' as its headline.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated right has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Trump's 9/11 claims about Ground Zero work face scrutiny?
- Of the 6 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 100% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 0% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 7. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Trump's 9/11 claims about Ground Zero work face scrutiny left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 6 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Trump's 9/11 claims about Ground Zero work face scrutiny biased?
- Trump's 9/11 claims about Ground Zero work face scrutiny is one event reported by 7 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which outlets covered Trump's 9/11 claims about Ground Zero work face scrutiny?
- 7 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Donald Trump claim he did at Ground Zero after 9/11?
- Donald Trump claimed he went to Ground Zero the day after the 9/11 attacks with construction workers from a project he was managing in New York. He stated that he and the workers 'worked long and hard' at the site.
- Did first responders see Donald Trump at Ground Zero?
- First responders and individuals present at Ground Zero in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks have stated they did not see Donald Trump there. Richard Alles, a former deputy chief with the New York Fire Department, told The New York Times he 'never witnessed' Trump at the site.
- What other claims has Trump made about 9/11?
- In addition to his claims about working at Ground Zero, Donald Trump has stated he witnessed the second plane crash into the Twin Towers. He has also claimed that his property at 40 Wall Street is now the tallest building in lower Manhattan.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
6- Trump brutally fact-checked over tale of 9/11 heroism: 'Give me a break' (opens Raw Story in a new tab)
- Trump claims he ‘worked long and hard’ at Ground Zero after 9/11. First responders say they never saw him there (opens The Daily Boulder in a new tab)
The Daily Boulder — is The Daily Boulder biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump says ‘we worked long and hard’ one day after 9/11 in latest dubious claim (opens The Independent (US) in a new tab)
The Independent (US) — is The Independent (US) biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Trump says ‘we worked long and hard’ one day after 9/11 in latest dubious claim (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Donald Trump Claims He 'Worked Long and Hard' With Construction Workers at Ground Zero After 9/11 (opens IBTimes UK in a new tab)
IBTimes UK — is IBTimes UK biased? Our profile of this outlet
- ‘We Worked Long And Hard’: Trump Tells Fox News He ‘Went Down’ To Ground Zero The Day After 9/11 (opens Mediaite in a new tab)
Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Not rated
1How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
