Trump Slammed as 9/11 Brag About Having 'Tallest' Tower Resurfaces

On the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a video clip showing former President Donald Trump reacting to that fateful day has resurfaced yet again.

The clip originates from a WWOR-TV News broadcast later in the day on September 11, 2001. In it, Trump called into the station to discuss the tragic destruction of the World Trade Center towers and focused on one of his New York City properties now being the tallest in the city, in a manner many have since criticized as insensitive and narcissistic. The clip has regularly resurfaced since Trump entered the political realm in 2015.

"It was an amazing phone call," Trump said at the time. "40 Wall Street actually was the second tallest building in downtown Manhattan and it was, actually before the World Trade Center, the tallest. And when they built the World Trade Center it became known as the second tallest and now it's the tallest."

The clip resurfaced again on Sunday, being shared by prominent left-leaning pundit and former federal prosecutor, Ron Filipkowski, on Twitter. As of Sunday afternoon, the clip had been viewed nearly 600,000 times.

Filipkowski's tweet was picked up by numerous other figures on social media, including Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, an outspoken GOP critic of Trump and his supporters. "I forgot about this," the congressman tweeted. "What a narcissist."

"Today marks the 21 year anniversary of Sir Donald Trump boasting on tape that he now has the tallest building in lower Manhattan," comedian John Fugelsang tweeted.

"NEVER FORGET that, on 9/11, trump bragged that he had the tallest building after the World Trade Center came down, and years later Jared Kushner took $2 BILLION DOLLARS from the people who planned 9/11," Majid Padellan, better known online as "Brooklyn Dad Defiant," said.

Political commentator Lindy Li, in her own tweet, drew a through line between the infamous clip and Trump's recent run-in with the FBI over his alleged handling of top-secret government documents at Mar-a-Lago. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in regard to the documents, and that any classified documents he took from the White House had been declassified.

"FBI found 43 EMPTY folders for classified docs," Li tweeted. "Trump may've sold the nuclear secrets of an ally (Israel) to the Saudis the funders of 9/11. Tomorrow is the 21st anniversary of the murder of 2996 Americans. 21st anniversary of Trump falsely bragging about having the tallest tower."

Nearly 3,000 people were killed on 9/11 after two hijacked commercial planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a fourth into a field in rural Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The terror attacks were orchestrated by al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.

Trump was notably absent from a line-up of former presidents at last year's 9/11 20th anniversary memorial event, which included Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. In a statement released on the day, Trump briefly touched on the attacks and offered praise to first responders, but mostly focused on attacking President Joe Biden over the recent handling of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

"The leader of our country was made to look like a fool, and that can never be allowed to happen," Trump said at the time about the chaotic exit he helped to negotiate, blaming "bad planning, incredible weakness, and leaders who truly don't understand what was happening."

"This is the 20th year of this war and should have been a year of victory and honor and strength," the former president added. "Instead, Joe Biden and his inept administration surrendered in defeat."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office for comment.