Donald Trump is Donald Trump 24/7/365—and 9/11 is no different. Over the years, he has racked up quite the litany of “did he really say that?” moments regarding September 11, starting on the day itself in 2001, when he had this gem:
“40 Wall Street,” he said, referring to his 71-story building blocks away from the now-collapsed twin towers, “actually 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.”
There’s that Trump knack for telling it like it is making everything about himself. Another major Trump character trait—lying—has come into play since in his explanations of why he took $150,000 in post-9/11 state money for small businesses. Trump’s version:
“It was probably a reimbursement for the fact that I allowed people, for many months, to stay in the building (40 Wall St.), use the building and store things in the building,” Trump told Time magazine in April.
“I was happy to do it, and to this day I am still being thanked for the many people I helped. The value of what I did was far greater than the money talked about, much of which was sent automatically to building owners in the area.”
Reality:
Records from the Empire State Development Corp., which administered the recovery program, show that Trump’s company asked for those funds for “rent loss,” “cleanup” and “repair” — not to recuperate money lost in helping people.
That government program was designed to help local businesses get back on their feet — not reimburse people for their charitable work.
Which of these sounds more like how Donald Trump operates: being super charitable and accepting a relative pittance for his efforts, or just taking every shred of money he could get his hands on and lying about why he got it when asked years later?
