Trump scammed 9/11 recovery money

How Trump Scammed New York For 9/11 Money He Didn’t Deserve

By Oliver Willis 

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Always a class act

Donald Trump has lied about how and why he received $150,000 from the New York state government which had been earmarked to help small businesses dealing with the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Previously, Trump claimed the money was “probably a reimbursement for the fact that I allowed people, for many months, to stay in the building, use the building and store things in the building” and “The value of what I did was far greater than the money talked about, much of which was sent automatically to building owners in the area.”

A new expose from the New York Daily News reveals that documents that Trump’s own company filed with the government show this to be a falsehood. The Daily News says:

But those comments don’t match the forms Trump’s company submitted to the New York state government requesting the money for his property, The Trump Building, located at 40 Wall St.

Those documents, exclusively obtained by The News from the Empire State Development Corporation which administered the recovery program, show Trump’s company asked for those funds for “rent loss,” “cleanup” and “repair” — not to recuperate money lost in helping people.

Even worse, Trump has previously admitted on the record that his property “wasn’t affected by what happened to the World Trade Center,” but he took the money anyway.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Equally if not worse than Trump’s own admission that he suffering no losses due to 9/11 is his phoned in remarks to WWOR radio on 9/11 itself where he bragged that now his 40 Wall Street building “actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan, and it was actually, before the World Trade Center, was the tallest—and then, when they built the World Trade Center, it became known as the second-tallest. And now it’s the tallest.” – W. Collette

Officials also told the paper that if Trump had submitted forms to be reimbursed for letting people use the building, as he claims, it would have been rejected out of hand. The program was in place to help businesses get back on their feet after the devastating attack that killed thousands, not to pad the pockets of alleged billionaires.

The 9/11 scam from Trump is part of a continuing pattern from the Republican presidential nominee, in which he has spread falsehoods, made questionable claims, and profited while others are left holding the bag. This case is just a little worse than the others for how he used the worst terrorist attack in American history as cover for sucking up money.

Author Oliver Willis was one of the first political bloggers in the world (since 2000), and was among the first bloggers to interview President Obama at the White House. I am on Twitter @owillis and write at OliverWillis.com