Trump Caught Bragging About How His Building is the Tallest in Downtown Manhattan After 9/11 Attacks

17 years ago, while the rest of the world were still in shock over the horrorific terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Trump was bragging about how one of his buildings was now the tallest in downtown Manhattan.

Just hours after the Twin Towers were brought down by two hi-jacked planes on 11th September 2001, the real-estate magnate spoke to local radio station WWOR, who asked him about one of his skyscrapers positioned near the site.

Presented Alan Marcus said: “Donald, you have one of the landmark buildings down in the Financial District, 40 Wall Street. Did you have any damage, or did you — what’s happened down there?”

In his reply, Trump seemed more concerned about how the attacks might have enhanced the value of his property, rather than the thousands who had died that day.

“Well, it was an amazing phone call,” he said.

“I mean, 40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually before the World Trade Center the tallest, and then when they built the World Trade Center it became known as the second-tallest, and now it’s the tallest.”

“And I just spoke to my people, and they said it’s the most unbelievable sight, it’s probably seven or eight blocks away from the World Trade Center, and yet Wall Street is littered with two feet of stone and brick and mortar and steel.”

This isn’t the first time this embarrassing interview has resurfaced. It was broadcast in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, but didn’t seem to deter his supporters. At the time, it was heavily analyzed by the media, which seemed divided on the interview.

According to fact-checking site Snopes, some felt that “Trump’s referencing the relative height of 40 Wall Street in the immediate aftermath of the World Trade Center towers’ fall was completely gratuitous and irrelevant to the discussion, the hallmark of an egoist with no compunctions about using tragedy as an opportunity for self-promotion.”

While others believed that considering the line of questioning, his remarks were unfairly taken out of context.

Whether his comments were ill-timed or not, they were inaccurate. Architectural reports show that after the World Trade Center fell, the tallest building in lower Manhatten was 70 Pine Street, which is 25 feet taller than the Wall Street Trump Tower.