Donald Trump has often placed himself at the centre of events around the 9/11 attacks, peppering his speeches with anecdotes and references to the fateful day and its aftermath.
But many of Trump’s claims are not supported by evidence, and in some cases they have been proven to be false. Fact-checkers have pored over the historical record without finding Trump in the places and situations he vividly describes.
The US President, a native New Yorker, has vigorously defended his claims and attacked detractors. But biographers who have chronicled his life and work describe a pattern of self-aggrandising fantasies.
UK POLITICS
Will mayors’ tourist tax powers have ‘damaging’ effect?
Andy Burnham’s Government is setting out plans to give English mayors new powers to introduce a local tourist tax.
What you need to know
Tourist tax for mayors
- Plans for a tourist tax for English mayors follow similar schemes introduced in Scotland and Wales.
- Charges of a similar nature already exist across Europe, with the revenue used to fund local services.
- The levy will be charged to overnight visitors as a percentage of the cost of accommodation, rather than a flat fee.
- The levy would have – but the Government hopes mayors are unlikely to make it too costly.
- It is thought a tourist tax in London won’t be more than five per cent of the cost of accommodation.
- Local leaders would decide how to invest the money raised from the levy.
Damaging impact of tourism tax?
Tourism bodies have warned the tax will hit Britons on staycations who are struggling with the cost of living.
UK Hospitality claimed the levy introduced in Edinburgh was “already having damaging effects” and said thousands of jobs in the sector were at risk.
UK Hospitality wants Burnham to consider a “holiday bonus” instead, with revenues devolved to areas based on visitor numbers.
What the Tories say
Hugely limiting for the chances of young people who might be employed in tourism.
Conservative Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith said Labour was trying to prop up “dodgy town hall finances on the back of even higher youth unemployment”.
A Labour Government source said it “will be up to local leaders and local voters to decide what is right for their area”.
Citing independent economic analysis by Oxford Economics, UKHospitality’s chief executive Allen Simpson, said: “The 33,000 people who could lose their jobs as a result of this tax, during an employment crisis, will be rightly furious.
Downing Street has insisted that the “overwhelming majority” of hospitality businesses will not be “directly affected”.
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Why Apple’s historic folding iPhone could be a gamble
A foldable iPhone is set to be launched with a UK starting price of £1,999.
What you need to know
The new iPhone Duo is set to cost , depending on storage.
Acts as an iPad
Marketed as both a the screen is 7.6 inches .
Big cost increase
It marks an eye-catching jump in starting price, with previous new iPhone models starting well under £1,000.
More detail on the specs
- The iPhone Duo has a folded display size of 5.4 inches.
- In its folded state, it is shorter and wider than a traditional iPhone.
- When unfolded, it is Apple’s thinnest-ever iPhone.
- The unfolded 7.6-inch screen, meanwhile, is just shy of the 7.9-inch display on the first iPad mini.
What do tech experts think?
The iPhone Duo is . Market intelligence firm IDC forecasts that Apple will sell 10 million units in the first year, generating £20bn.
Foldables make up less than five per cent of the smartphone market, but some experts think the iPhone Duo could spark a boom.
Why it could be a gamble
- Several of Apple’s rivals, like Samsung and Huawei, are ahead when it comes to foldable phones.
- However, John Ternus, Apple’s new chief executive, said the US tech giant was “redefining” the product.
- Ternus claimed rival foldables “feel like two phones awkwardly stuck together” while the Duo should offer the smooth feel of iPad.
- Still, regular iPhone users would need to adapt to the new style.
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The foldable risks becoming a premium-priced ornament in the portfolio, imparting badge value but not meaningful growth.
Dipanjan Chatterjee, principal analyst at Forrester Research, told the BBC that the iPhone Duo could flounder like the pricy Vision Pro headset, but may also become a hit like the iPhone adjacent Apple Watch.
What we know about Philippines ferry fire
At least five people are dead and dozens more were missing on Thursday after a fire broke out on a ferry in the Philippines.
The latest
86 people still missing
- The MV June Aster was carrying 117 passengers and 17 crew members from Manlia to tourist resort Coron when it caught fire.
- Five people were killed and 86 passengers are still missing, said the Philippines’ coast guard. Some 43 people have been rescued so far.
- The 6.45pm local time on Wednesday (11.45am BST) and was still burning by 11am on Thursday but has since been put out.
Rescued after two hours at sea
Some passengers weren’t wearing life vests, said the coastguard. Rescue workers were seen throwing vests to those stranded in the water. One passenger told the BBC he floated for two hours before being rescued.
Families anxiously await news on loved ones, as search and rescue operations continue.
What caused the fire?
- The cause is still to be determined, but coastguard officials said a survivor reported hearing an explosion in the hold area.
- Sea accidents are common in the Philippines, a nation of 7,100 islands where ferries offer cheap transport and weather can be severe.
- But with 86 missing persons, this incident may end up being among the nation’s most severe.
How the King’s pointed letter ‘surprised’ Harry and Meghan
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were “surprised” by the release of a letter on behalf of King Charles this week clarifying their status as “akin to private citizen”, according to a spokesperson for the couple.
Here’s what we know.
No titles, little warning
- A top Buckingham Palace official sent the letter to military officials and Government departments on Monday.
- It stated that as non-working royals, the Sussexes will not use the titles of “His and Her Royal Highness”.
- The couple “were a little surprised not to have been told about this in advance,” their spokesperson said.
- Their team was still seeking guidance when it was released, The i Paper understands.
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No chance for clarification
The Sussexes did not have enough time to clarify any points before the guidance was issued to the media, it is understood.
- The letter’s contents were reportedly shared with their team at 1:59pm.
- Team Sussex replied to Buckingham Palace at 2:19pm, seeking clarification on one or two points.
- The letter was revealed to the media at 3:06pm on Monday.
- Harry was in a meeting and could not be contacted until 3:09pm.
- Team Sussex received confirmation at 3:11pm that the letter had been sent to the media.
Why are the titles important?
The reference to the HRH title was seen as an attempt to slap the Sussexes down amid concerns that the couple may want to monetise their royal status, including via Meghan’s lifestyle products brand, As Ever.
The title was seen in a video Meghan posted accompanying a podcast last year.
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Watch more from The i Paper
Harry, a ‘private citizen’?
- The letter clarified that “in short, their position is akin to private citizens with commercial and charitable interests”.
- But a friend of the couple previously told The i Paper that Harry, as the King’s son, could never be an entirely private citizen.
- “Some people will say, ‘But they’re private citizens.’ Nonsense. Utter nonsense. They are two of the most high-profile people in the world,” the friend added.
Not a quiet word in your ear, not a private memo; no, this was a formal, blunt statement of fact sent to Harry on his father’s orders. Ouch! There is to be no doubt: the King is not going to be bounced into accepting any change in the Sussexes’ status just because they have chosen to return to the UK.
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No ‘half in, half out’ option
Charles and Prince William are said to be worried that family members doing business deals alongside official duties for the state opens themselves up to the sort of abuse of position accusations facing the King’s brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
- This led to them clarifying that Harry and Meghan won’t be attending state functions or official engagements.
Who will fund the Sussexes’ security?
The couple returned to the country for what they called an extended period on 26 August, after quitting royal duties in 2020. Their children have reportedly been enrolled in English schools.
The row over who will pay for their security is ongoing, with the couple currently paying for it but lobbying the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (Ravec) – which is set to meet this week – for taxpayer-funded police protection.
How hot drinks can raise cancer risk
Frequently consuming drinks at very high temperatures increases the risk of oesophageal cancer – cancer of the food pipe or gullet – UK research suggests.
A three times higher chance
The study, from Oxford Population Health at the University of Oxford, included nearly a million people and found those who drank “very hot” drinks had about a three times higher risk of oesophageal .
Hot liquid may damage the cell lining of the food pipe as it travels down to the stomach, which could increase the risk of cancer developing, though the overall risk is low.
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How hot is too hot?
The research, published in the , did not record the temperature of drinks. But the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified drinking beverages above 65°C as “probably carcinogenic”.
Drinking six or more hot beverages a day also increases the risk, data from 977,282 middle-aged men and women in this latest study shows.
A rare cancer
The researchers said that one or two in every 10 oesophageal cancers could be avoided if people stopped consuming hot drinks.
The cancer is rare, though, with only around 1 per cent of the UK population at risk of being diagnosed with this type of cancer.
- Other factors, such as smoking, pose a comparatively bigger risk for developing oesophageal cancer.
What to do
- Letting drinks cool down before drinking or adding cold milk can negate the risk, experts agreed.
- Researchers said the temperature at which coffee and tea is drunk in Western populations is estimated to be .
- “More research is needed to identify the exact drink temperatures linked to increased risk,” the researchers added.
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August was world’s joint hottest month on
August was the joint hottest month ever recorded, with global temperatures soaring 1.65C above pre-industrial times.
Scientists say it is another “warning siren” for climate change. Here’s what you need to know.
What you need to know
Record temps
August 2026 tied July 2023 for the planet’s hottest month on record, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Fossil fuels impact
Last month was 1.65°C above the average for the period 1850-1900, before humans burned fossil fuels at scale.
Warmer seas
Sea surface temperatures hit 21.07C, a joint high mark with March 2024.
The impact of record heat
Heatwaves in August continued a run of extreme heat that began in May, with severe drought hitting the UK, France, Hungary and Serbia. Major rivers from the Rhine to the Danube saw exceptionally low flows.
Under 2015’s Paris Agreement, countries agreed to limit global warming to “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels.
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What the scientists say
Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at ECMWF, said the latest temperature data shows how “climate change is driving extremes across both the atmosphere and the oceans”.
Gareth Redmond-King, of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said a “warning siren” was sounding two months before the COP 31 summit.
![CORRECTION / A beachgoer walks in Lake Lacanau, also called Etang de Lacanau (Lacanau Pond) from the beach of Moutchic in Lacanau, southwestern France on July 24, 2026, as clouds of smoke rise into the sky from a wildfire. The fire raging in the northern part of the Arcachon Basin in Gironde, southwest France, has swept through more than 3,400 hectares, according to the latest figures released by the prefecture. More than 20,000 residents and tourists have been evacuated from this part already devastated by flames in 2022. Scientists have long warned that climate change caused by human use of fossil fuels will make periods of drought more intense and longer-lasting, creating the ideal conditions for wildfires. (Photo by Maximilien LAMY / AFP via Getty Images) / "The erroneous mention[s] appearing in the metadata of this photo by Maximilien LAMY has been modified in AFP systems in the following manner: [Lake Lacanau] instead of [the ocean]. Please immediately remove the erroneous mention[s] from all your online services and delete it (them) from your servers. If you have been authorized by AFP to distribute it (them) to third parties, please ensure that the same actions are carried out by them. Failure to promptly comply with these instructions will entail liability on your part for any continued or post notification usage. Therefore we thank you very much for all your attention and prompt action. We are sorry for the inconvenience this notification may cause and remain at your disposal for any further information you may require."](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/SEI_306296016.jpg?w=1200&h=675&crop=1)
GO DEEPER ON THIS TOPIC
How El Niño could impact UK weather
The United Nations says the world is in a “danger zone of extreme weather”, with warnings that aeroplane turbulence and food shortages could affect Britons.
The new illnesses pharmacists can treat under NHS scheme
Pharmacists will be able to treat people with migraines, acne and several other conditions as the NHS’ “Pharmacy First” scheme is expanded this autumn.
What you need to know
Pharmacy scheme
The NHS scheme allows people to receive care for common illnesses from pharmacists without seeing a GP.
New conditions
From autumn, people can get help for acne, migraines, scabies, certain ear infections and allergic rhinitis.
Expanded offering
It adds to the seven conditions pharmacies can already treat.
The changes in full
- Pharmacies can already treat seven conditions under the Pharmacy First scheme.
- They are impetigo, infected insect bites, shingles, sinusitis, earache, sore throat and .
- Once fully rolled out, the scheme’s expansion means pharmacies will now be able to treat 12 conditions.
What the NHS says
The NHS expects between two and three million consultations for the new list of five conditions that can be held in pharmacies. It is hoped this will take pressure off the NHS.
Dr Amanda Doyle of NHS England said people can get treatment “quickly and conveniently on local high streets”.
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Burnham’s thoughts
People are fed up with the scramble for routine appointments
The Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “Treating people closer to home means catching problems earlier, easing pressure on GPs and A&E and giving people back precious time.”
Hospital waiting lists spike
It comes as the waiting list for routine hospital treatment in England has risen to its highest level for nine months. An estimated 7.33 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of July, relating to 6.21 million patients, according to NHS figures. The numbers are the highest since October 2025, when the list stood at 7.40 million treatments and 6.24 million patients.
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‘Penises and nuns’ – The Bayeux Tapestry’s curious history
The legendary woven record of the Norman Conquest has been unveiled to the public in the UK for the first time. As it goes on display at the British Museum, here’s what we know about its extraordinary history.
What you need to know
Back in Britain
The tapestry recording the Norman Conquest of 1066 is back in the UK for the .
Deal with France
It is as part of a special deal between the UK, France and the British Museum.
Medieval wonder
Considered one of the wonders of the medieval world, it offers insight into 11th-century England.
Watch more from The i Paper
Tapestry’s curious history
- It is believed to have been commissioned by the half-brother of William the Conqueror.
- The consensus now is that it was made not in France but by nuns near Canterbury.
- The soldier with the arrow through his eye might not be King Harold, but historians are uncertain.
- The may be random comic irrelevances or commentary on the story.
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How to get tickets
- The tapestry is on show at the British Museum from 10 September until 11 July 2027.
- Tickets are sold out until a release on 21 October, with details on the museum’s website.
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Trump claims he was s
This week, Trump repeated a claim that he had been rescued from an unstable building in New York’s financial district “right after” the attacks.
“The United States Steel building was creaking, really creaking, and we thought it was going to fall down,” he said in a speech in Washington DC. “I’ll never forget two firemen. We thought it was coming down on top of us, and two firemen, big strong guys. And I’m not the smallest guy in the world. They grabbed me under the arm, said, ‘Got to get out of here.’ And they literally lifted me up. This is not easy to do. I’m big. They lifted me up and they started running with me. I said, ‘Fellas, I can run myself,’ but they were amazing.”
Former colleagues of the President say they were all at Trump Tower four miles away when the planes hit and he was not close to the scene that day. He has described witnessing the attack from his apartment in the building. Trump claimed on a separate occasion the incident occurred a “couple of days after” the attack.
The building he referred to was evacuated on 12 September 2001 over safety concerns but there is no evidence that Trump was there on that date.
Trump angrily rejected reports questioning his version of events this week, posting a clip on social media with footage of him speaking to reporters with the caption: “What Trump saw at ground zero hours after 9/11”. The video is date-stamped to 13 September.
Trump ‘provided hundreds of workers‘ to help
Trump has repeatedly stated that he contributed hundreds of construction workers to assist with emergency operations after the attack.
“I have a lot of men down here right now,” he told German TV station N24 two days after the attack. “We have over 100 and we have about 125 coming. So we’ll have a couple hundred people down here. And they’re very brave and what they’re doing is amazing. And we will be involved in some form in helping to reconstruct.”
Trump later added details to the account. “Everyone who helped clear the rubble – and I was there, and I watched, and I helped a little bit,” he said during the 2016 election campaign. “We worked long and hard but it was just so terrible and so hopeless,” he told Fox News this year.
The account was questioned by leaders of the emergency response. Richard Alles, a New York Fire Department battalion chief, recalled: “I spent many months there myself, and I never witnessed him. He was a private citizen at the time. I don’t know what kind of role he could have possibly played.”
Barbara Res, a former Trump Organisation construction executive, said Trump’s account would have been widely reported if true. “Listen, if he was there and he was escorted by firefighters and first responders, it would be the headline of the next day.”
Tim O’Brien, author of the biography , said the size of the Trump Organisation at the time was “a little bit over a dozen people” – making it impossible to send hundreds. However, as a property developer, Trump may well have been able to bring in contracted construction workers to help.
He also would have had his own casino staff elsewhere, in Atlantic City, for example, who could have been brought in, although there appears to be no evidence of this.
The biographer suggested the account was a fantasy in comments to the . “He’s very comfortable propagandising that event for political purposes. Even in the face of tragedy, he can’t help but self-promote and self-aggrandise.”
Trump ‘saw people jumping from towers
The President’s accounts of what he saw that day have changed over the years. He famously called into a local television news channel hours after the attack to describe his view of the tower collapsing, and made the false claim that the fall of the World Trade Center left his 40 Wall Street Tower as the tallest building in the financial district.
Trump also told the station that he had spoken to a witness at the scene who saw “at least 10 people jumping out of the building”.
But on the campaign trail in 2015, Trump gave an account of himself watching people jump. “Many people jumped, and I witnessed it, I watched that,” he told a crowd in Ohio.
From Trump Tower, about four miles away from the scene, it would have been almost impossible to see an individual jump. But footage of such scenes did play on television until the networks stopped showing them.
Thousands ‘celebrated fall of Twin Towers‘
Trump’s most inflammatory claim about the attacks is that he saw large-scale celebrations in areas with large “Arab populations” in New Jersey.
“Thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down,” he told a rally in Alabama in 2015.
The claim was rejected by the mayor of Jersey City as “shameful”, and local police chiefs said there was no evidence for it. Several news outlets investigated the allegation and were unable to verify it, with a fact check awarding it the lowest possible score for honesty.
Some news outlets reported on claims of small-scale incidents, such as a CBS News report on neighbours alleging that eight men had celebrated the attack on the roof of a Jersey building, although it is unclear if this was ever proven.
Trump’s donations to victims that never materialised
In October 2001, Trump pledged $10,000 (£7,380) on a live radio show to a fund for victims and first responders.
But multiple investigations, including by the New York City Comptroller’s office, found no record of such a gift based on a review of donation records, and concluded the future president “may have lied.”
Investigative outlet found that Trump did donate $1,000 (£739) to a controversial Scientology programme offering treatment to firemen who inhaled toxins.
A spokesperson for Trump did not dispute the specific claims but said he had donated “close to half a million dollars to organisations as a result of the 9/11 tragedy including the American Red Cross and the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Fund.”
The reported that Trump claimed a $150,000 (£111,000) federal grant from a fund for small businesses affected by 9/11.
What Trump’s claims say about his mindset, according to experts
Tony Schwartz, another Trump biographer who coined the term “truthful hyperbole” when ghostwriting The Art of the Deal, said he had an ability to “convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true.”
Psychoanalyst Stephen Grosz suggests Trump’s embellishments were motivated by a need for attention. “Trump may abuse the truth so we take notice of him, think about him, become emotionally involved with him. Because he’s in no one’s heart, he wants to be in all our minds,” he wrote.
Dr Henry David Abraham, a psychiatrist who won the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, told The i Paper: “In essence, Trump’s unverifiable claims of his involvement with the tragedy of the 9/11 attacks could be explainable by a differential diagnosis of narcissism, hypomania, and more likely than not, the clinical sign of confabulation.”
Confabulation happens when the brain unconsciously fills gaps in memory with false or distorted information without intending to deceive. Dr Abraham emphasised that without access to Trump’s records, however, he could not presume to diagnose him.