President 
Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, an equities trader and volunteer firefighter who died working to save lives on 9/11, at a Steel Across America event on Tuesday. The event, held ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, featured a steel beam recovered from the South Tower of the World Trade Center. At the same event, Trump said two firefighters had carried him away from a creaking building near the site after the attacks, an account that drew a fact-check and accusations of lying.
Who was honored? Crowther became known as the "man in the red bandanna" after rescuing several people in the attacks, and his mother, Alison, and sister, Paige, accepted the award, PBS NewsHour reported. Trump also paid tribute to Jeffrey Palazzo, a New York City firefighter who died in the attacks, and said the U.S. Coast Guard will commission a fast-response cutter in his honor this weekend. "This battered piece of steel here today on the Ellipse is a reminder that America is blessed with a strength no fire can consume, no evil can conquer and no terror can destroy," he said. The 21-foot beam, which toured the country for months, will travel through New York in a procession on Friday.
What did the president say about his own response? He said he took his construction crew to the site "right after this happened" and heard the structure then known as the U.S. Steel Building "creaking." "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 arms," Trump said. It was not clear from his comments precisely when the episode occurred, PBS NewsHour reported.
What has the fact-check found? A PolitiFact review republished by PBS NewsHour found Trump repeating statements that lack evidence about aiding the recovery. Supporting accounts show that fears the building, now One Liberty Plaza, would collapse prompted evacuations, though none specifically say Trump was there. PolitiFact previously found no evidence that he brought hundreds of workers to the site, and the earliest video or photo of him near Ground Zero dates from Sept. 13, 2001.
How did critics respond? California Gov. Gavin Newsom accused Trump on Tuesday of lying over the anecdote, The Hill reported. Trump also lashed out at "The Failing New York Magazine" over its coverage, after the magazine called his remarks a "weird lie."
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
