#politifact — Trump Fail

At a White House Event Honoring 9/11 First Responders, Trump — Who Was Miles Away in Trump Tower When the Towers Were Hit, and Who Has Announced He Will Skip the Coming Ground Zero Ceremony Because He Can't Give a Speech There — Claimed "Two Big Firemen" Grabbed Him and Carried Him to Safety From a Creaking Building Near Ground Zero, a Dramatic Rescue for Which There Is No Photo, No Record, No Named Firefighter, and No Evidence It Ever Happened

At a September 8, 2026 White House event honoring 9/11 first responders — marking the 25th anniversary — Trump told a dramatic new story casting himself as a near-victim of the attacks. He claimed that "the United States Steel Building was creaking, really creaking, and we thought it was going to fall down," and that "two firemen, big strong guys, they grabbed me under the arms — 'got to get out of here!' — and they literally lifted me up, and they started running with me." The building he meant is One Liberty Plaza (formerly the U.S. Steel Building), which did face genuine collapse fears when the towers fell. But the rescue almost certainly did not happen to him. Fact-checkers at CNN, PolitiFact, and PBS found no photo, no video, no emergency record, and no first-responder account supporting it; Trump named neither of the two firefighters; and CNN's Daniel Dale noted the decisive problem — Trump was not near the World Trade Center when it was struck. He was in Trump Tower, miles uptown. There is no public evidence he was even in the building he described in the days afterward, and people who were on site say they never saw him. The story is stolen valor at a memorial: a man inserting himself, as a rescued near-hero, into the middle of the nation's worst terrorist attack — told to the faces of the real responders it honored — even as he plans to skip the coming Ground Zero ceremony on September 11 because its rules will not let him give a speech.

Trump Claims Vandals Cut a "350-Foot Gash" in the Reflecting Pool and Calls Them "Enemies of Our Country" — But the Government Won't Produce Any Records, the Gash Length Keeps Growing, a PolitiFact Reporter Couldn't Find It, and the Only Person Charged Is a 67-Year-Old Three-Time Olympian Who Touched a Piece of Already-Peeling Paint

As the Reflecting Pool renovation continues to unravel — algae, peeling paint, storm drains, $16+ million in costs — Trump has constructed an alternative explanation: vandals did it. He claims six people were arrested and seven cited for cutting "a 350-foot gash" in the sealant with "a very sharp knife or razors." He calls them "enemies" who "want to destroy our country." The problems: (1) The government has produced no records of these arrests — no complaints, no citations, no court filings. The New York Times reported "no records of arrests or citations have been produced to support the president's claims." (2) The alleged gash keeps growing: 150 feet, then 250, then 300, then 350. (3) A PolitiFact reporter visited the pool and saw no visible gash. Officers on-site could not point to it. (4) Interior Department staff noticed coating defects including bubbling and small holes in May — before any alleged vandalism. (5) The only confirmed arrest is David Carter Hearn, a 67-year-old three-time Olympic canoeist, who says he simply reached in to touch a piece of already-peeling paint during a bike ride and was held in a Park Police jail for five hours. (6) Pool experts say the polyurea coating is naturally chemical-resistant, and the tools Trump describes would cause only superficial damage. Former federal prosecutor Ankush Khardori: "My operating hypothesis is that this information is not being produced to the public because it would not support the president's claims." He compared it to a pattern where the D.C. U.S. attorney's office under Jeanine Pirro loudly publicizes cases that serve the narrative — like the "sandwich guy" arrest video — but goes silent when the facts don't cooperate. Khardori: "I don't believe him. I'll just be honest."

Trump Claims He's Cutting Drug Prices by "1,000%" — Which Would Mean Pharmacies Pay You

Trump repeatedly claims his drug pricing policy will cut prices by "1,000%." A 100% cut would make drugs free. A 1,000% cut would mean pharmacies owe you money for taking the pills. When confronted, Trump said there are "two ways of calculating." RFK Jr. and Dr. Oz defended the math in Congress. PolitiFact: "That doesn't add up."