Yes. At a White House memorial event on September 8, 2026, ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, President Donald Trump described firefighters lifting him and running with him near the disaster zone after they feared a nearby building might collapse.
He later clarified on Truth Social that he was not there on the day of the collapse but “shortly thereafter” with construction workers, and White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended the remarks as his experience in the days after the attacks. Historical reporting places Trump in Lower Manhattan days afterward (including a Newsday account of him at Ground Zero on September 13, 2001), but USA TODAY notes there is no public evidence he participated in rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations.
Source: USA TODAY