In August 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York said he wouldn’t be allowed to speak at the 25th-anniversary remembrance and that he was “looking into shutting them down permanently.”
Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, people shared a rumor claiming U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York said he wouldn’t be allowed to speak at the museum’s remembrance ceremony, adding that his administration was “looking into shutting them down permanently.”
For example, on Sept. 1, a Facebook user shared (archived) an image showing the alleged Truth Social post:
(Irmawati via Facebook)
The purported Trump post read as follows:
“The National September 11 Memorial and Museum commission decided I’m not allowed to speak at the remembrance. Imagine that? A native new Yorker. The greatest president in history. We’re looking into shutting them down permanently, remove the memorial and building a statue of me as tall as the World Trade Center. Not to brag or anything, but I single handedly saved 500 thousand people in those burning buildings. I ran 110 floors at least 50 times within 30 minutes pulling people out of tight spaces. I almost died.” DJT
According to a reverse image search of the supposed Trump post screenshot, users primarily shared the image on Facebook. It also appeared on the 9GAG meme website.
Snopes readers emailed us to investigate the alleged screenshot’s legitimacy, asking, for example, “I believe the fact that he won’t attend is true, but is this X post for real?”
To investigate the rumor, we first checked Trump’s Truth Social page and found no such post. We then searched on DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo for reports about the supposed post possibly being shared then deleted. If Trump had falsely posted he saved 500,000 people and mentioned plans of building a massive statue after removing the memorial and museum, journalists with reputable news outlets, such as The Associated Press or The New York Times, would have widely reported on it, and our search inquiries would have uncovered such evidence. We found no such articles.
While some Facebook commenters questioned whether the post was real, many others recognized the image as fabricated humor, specifically calling it “satire.”
In sum, the purported Trump Truth Social post screenshot’s fake nature and extremely outlandish, false claims, suggested the image originated as satire. We will update this article if we locate the origin of the image.
Trump reportedly not going to NY ceremony
The story spread in the days before the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. Ahead of that anniversary, Trump and the White House disputed a New York Times report alleging he decided against attending the New York remembrance because he couldn’t speak at the event. The reporting cited three anonymous sources “with knowledge of the events.” We did not locate evidence that might conclusively confirm or debunk that claim.
A spokesperson for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum previously told Snopes that the organization has historically “intentionally worked to keep the commemoration free of politics because remembering those we lost on 9/11 should never be a partisan issue,” and that politicians are not to deliver remarks and must “remain in a designated area.”
In an authentic post on Aug. 28, Trump posted (archived) an attack on Times journalist Maggie Haberman, one of several reporters who worked on the Times’ story, calling her “Maggot Hagerman” and writing, “I would love not to speak, because I’m speaking all the time, and this is a day to remember the victims, and their beautiful family members.”
Trump’s post also said he plans to attend the remembrance at the Pentagon.
Via email, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Snopes of Trump’s plans:
As a proud New Yorker, President Trump has spoken about his own experiences watching the horrific events of September 11, 2001. On the 25th anniversary of this tragic day, the President will remember those who were killed at the hands of evil terrorists, honor their loved ones, and pay tribute to the brave first responders who put their lives on the line to rescue their fellow Americans.
The White House also said Vice President JD Vance plans to travel to New York, as well as that all three 9/11 sites, including Shanksville, Pennsylvania, will be represented with administration officials in attendance.
For further reading, we previously reported about the claim Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wore nothing but underwear during a visit to the 9/11 memorial.
Since the effectiveness of satire is subjective, we use “originated as satire” or “labeled satire” ratings based on creators’ description of their work.
