What would you expect from Donald Trump regarding 9/11?
Well, you would be correct.
Trump’s relationship with 9/11 has always been curious, if not outright disrespectful. As a born-and-bred New Yorker whose identity is closely tied to the city, one would think he would make a point of showing the utmost respect for those who lost their lives, but as is the case with Trump’s relationship to just about anything, he hasn’t been able to resist making it about himself whenever possible. During an interview with Bloomberg not even two weeks ago, the president referenced George W. Bush speaking through a bullhorn at ground zero as an annoying blip preventing Trump’s own popularity among Republicans from being the highest ever. “The advantage we have is — I am actually a very popular president, which people don’t like to say, you know,” Trump said. “In fact, I guess the Republican poll came out, there’s one at 92 and one at 93 and one at 90, and they’re the highest numbers that have ever been, with the exception of a tiny period of time with a bullhorn. But that period lasted for about a week.”
The most telling example of Trump’s understanding of 9/11, of his total lack of empathy and of his pathological self-centeredness came the morning of the attack. While on the phone with Secaucus, New Jersey’s WWOR, Trump was asked whether his building at 40 Wall Street has sustained any damaged as a result of the attacks. He proceeded to brag about how now that the World Trade Center had fallen, he owned the tallest building in downtown Manhattan. “40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan,” Trump said. “Before the World Trade Center it was the tallest. Then when the built the World Trade Center it become known as the second-tallest, and now it’s the tallest.”
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