The 25th anniversary of September 11 is tomorrow. One hundred eighty-four people died at the Pentagon alone. Nearly 3,000 total. And the New York Times and New York Magazine decided this was the perfect moment to publish stories questioning whether Donald Trump was really at Ground Zero.
There's video of him there on September 13. But sure, let's litigate it.
President Trump fired back on Truth Social, calling out New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman by name — or rather, by his preferred version of it. "Maggot Hagerman continues to say that I did not go to the New York World Trade Center event," Trump wrote. "I was there, obviously not on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter, with a large group of Construction Workers."
He didn't stop there. Trump called the journalists behind the stories "liars and scoundrels," adding: "They're angry, and sick, over the fact that I won the Presidential Election three times."
New York Magazine's contribution was a headline calling it a "Weird Lie About Where He Was on 9/11" — which is an interesting editorial choice when video evidence exists of Trump surveying the wreckage two days after the attack. The New York Times was slightly more restrained in tone but no less pointed, writing that "this was the latest in Mr. Trump's evolving — and often disputed — account of his actions on Sept. 11."
"Evolving and often disputed." That's the Times telling you what to think before you've read a single fact. A Harvard study found that 87 percent of the New York Times' coverage of Trump during his first term was negative. So the framing isn't exactly a surprise — it's a house style.
Matthew Calamari, Trump's former Head of Security, has previously confirmed he accompanied Trump to the Ground Zero site. CNN's Daniel Dale, who has built an entire career around fact-checking Trump statements, has not produced evidence contradicting the September 13 visit. The dispute, such as it is, centers on the precise timeline and Trump's characterization of his role — not on whether he was physically present.
The timing is what makes this particularly instructive. These outlets didn't publish during a slow news week or in response to a new Trump claim. They published during the week Americans commemorate the worst terrorist attack on domestic soil. Families are visiting memorials. First responders are being honored. And the paper of record is running forensic analyses of Trump's whereabouts 25 years ago.
Meanwhile, in New York City itself, Mayor Zohran Mamdani — who has his own complicated relationship with the 9/11 anniversary — hasn't drawn nearly the same scrutiny from these same publications. The editorial energy flows in one direction.
Vice President Vance is scheduled to attend anniversary events. The administration has treated the commemoration with the gravity it deserves. The contrast between that posture and the media's chosen use of the week speaks for itself.
Eighty-seven percent negative coverage, and they still had room to escalate. Some institutions tell you who they are every time they pick a publish date.