President Donald Trump has offered a fresh account of his actions during the 11 September 2001 attacks, claiming two firefighters bodily lifted him to safety.

“And I’ll never forget,” Trump said, “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!’”

Trump (80) made the comments at a White House event on Tuesday honouring emergency workers killed on 9/11.

His version of events appeared to be a new chapter in a constantly evolving narrative that Trump has told over the years about his actions after the attacks.

The New York property tycoon has long featured himself as the hero, with variations on him taking workers down to Ground Zero.

But US media say rescue officials present at the time dispute Trump’s account.

Skipping New York memorial

The remarks also come as Trump faces criticism for not being present in New York for the 25th anniversary of the attacks that killed 2 977 people.

Instead of being at the site where Al-Qaeda hijackers rammed planes into the World Trade Center towers, Trump will pay his respects on Friday at the Pentagon in Washington.

Trump and the White House have hotly denied reports that he chose the Pentagon because organisers refused to let him deliver a speech at the 9/11 memorial.

“This is more Corrupt News, I’ve been to New York many times over the years, and no one ever speaks, it’s a ‘solemn ceremony!’” Trump said on his Truth Social network last week.

But it will still place the native New Yorker away from the main focus of the day’s commemorative events.

Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s four living predecessors will all attend Ground Zero. Democrats Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are expected, as well as Republican George W Bush, who was president during the attacks.

Later on Friday, Trump will fly to Ireland where he will attend the Irish Open golf tournament at his family’s golf course over the weekend.

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Long history of disputed claims

His absence from New York marks a contrast with Trump’s usual approach, which has been to put himself at the heart of the 9/11 story.

Two days after the attacks, Trump told reporters that he had been to Ground Zero and had sent 100 workers to the site to help recovery efforts.

CNN and the New York Times said people present at the site disputed his account.

At the White House event on Tuesday, where a steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center’s South Tower was on display, Trump gave a fresh account.

Trump said it had been a “beautiful morning” and that he had then seen a news alert on television, before looking out of his window “and I saw things that I never want to see again.”

He added that he was overseeing a building project and that he “took the whole crew down there right after this happened.”

Trump clarified his recollections in a lengthy Truth Social post Tuesday evening.

“I was there, obviously not on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter, with a large group of Construction Workers,” Trump wrote in a post accompanied by a video.

“I was there as soon as the Law allowed,” the US president added, as he lashed out at journalists and accused them of spreading “fake news.”

Joke about Red Bandana hero

At Tuesday’s event, Trump presented the highest US civilian honour to the family of volunteer firefighter Welles Crowther, who was killed while helping lead people out of the South Tower.

Crowther, an equities trader, became known as the “man in the red bandana” after survivors told stories about a mysterious man wearing one over his nose and mouth.

“The Man in the Red Bandana. He’s become more famous than me, I don’t like it,” Trump said with a chuckle.

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