Trump boasted in a live TV interview in the aftermath of the attacks that one of his buildings became the largest in Manhattan.
The Interview in the Aftermath
Just hours after hijackers steered two commercial airliners into the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, Donald Trump, then known as a New York real estate mogul, gave a live interview on TV.
Around the same time as the interview, emergency responders were rushing to evacuate buildings and find survivors. Nearly 3,000 people were killed across attacks by four hijacked planes, two into the Twin Towers, a third into the Pentagon in Virginia and a fourth that plummeted into a field in Pennsylvania.
Speaking to WWOR/UPN 9 News, Trump recalled witnessing the attacks in New York and seeing a “huge explosion” after the planes flew into the skyscrapers.
Trump’s Building Now the Tallest
The interviewer asked whether Trump Tower would tighten its security following the attacks. He took the question as an opportunity to gloat.
Trump claimed that his building at 40 Wall St. became the biggest building in New York City.
“We’ve always had very strong security but there’s very little you can do about planes crashing into a building,” he replied, before adding that his 71-story building on 40 Wall St. had now become the tallest building in Manhattan after the Twin Towers collapsed.
‘Now it’s the tallest’
Talking about his building just blocks from where the attacks happened, Trump explained how it “was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest and then when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest.”
“And now it’s the tallest,” he finished.
Trump was wrong as on that day, 70 Pine St, which sits just one block away from 40 Wall St., was 25 feet taller.
The One World Trade Center, constructed in the footprint of the Twin Towers, would reclaim the tallest building title when it opened in 2014.
Comments Resurface on Anniversary
As the U.S. is set to remember the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks this week, Trump’s comments in the immediate aftermath have resurfaced.
Social media users have called them “evil” and “astonishing to hear.”
Trump will not attend the commemorative ceremony being held in New York. The president pulled out after his administration was informed that political figures are not allowed to address the crowd.
Trump will instead deliver a speech at the Pentagon.