NEW YORK — As the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches, a television interview Donald Trump gave on the day of the tragedy is once again drawing scrutiny.
Trump, then a prominent New York real estate developer, spoke by phone with WWOR as Lower Manhattan struggled to understand the destruction of the World Trade Center.
During the interview, the discussion turned to 40 Wall Street, one of Trump’s properties. Trump described the building and then made a striking observation about its height after the Twin Towers collapsed.
“Now it’s the tallest,” Trump said.
The comment quickly became one of the most frequently revisited portions of the interview. Critics have argued that the remark appeared out of place amid the devastation unfolding across New York.
There was also a factual issue: 40 Wall Street was not actually the tallest building in Lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center towers fell. Nearby 70 Pine Street was taller.
The interview also captured Trump describing reports from people near his property, including heavy debris in the streets and the extraordinary scale of the destruction.
Years later, other statements Trump made about his experiences on September 11—including accounts of what he saw and whether he participated in cleanup efforts—have also been examined by journalists and fact-checkers.
But the original 2001 interview remains a contemporaneous record of Trump’s reaction as the disaster unfolded.
Twenty-five years later, the footage is being revisited not only for what Trump said, but for how those brief comments have remained part of the national conversation surrounding one of the darkest days in modern American history.
For the families of nearly 3,000 people killed, survivors and first responders, however, the anniversary remains focused on the lives lost—and the lasting impact of September 11.
