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What did Donald Trump claim about Muslims celebrating 9/11 in New Jersey?
Executive summary
Donald Trump repeatedly said he saw “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in Jersey City, New Jersey, celebrating the September 11, 2001 attacks and defended that assertion as “100% right” while citing reports “all over the world” [1] [2]. Contemporary reporting and multiple fact-checkers who reviewed local news archives found no evidence of widespread, televised celebrations in New Jersey and described only rumors, isolated unsourced mentions, or a handful of alleged incidents — far short of “thousands” [3] [4].
1. What Trump actually claimed — the core assertion
Donald Trump said he personally saw Muslims in Jersey City cheering as the Twin Towers fell and characterized the scale as “thousands and thousands,” later insisting he was “100% right” and pointing to widespread reporting of Muslim celebrations “all over the world” to buttress his claim [1] [2] [5]. When pressed, he reframed or defended the claim rather than retracting it, arguing either that he had seen it on television or that reports elsewhere validated his memory [6] [2].
2. What contemporaneous reporting shows
News organizations and local officials at the time disputed that any large-scale celebrations occurred in New Jersey. Journalists and broadcasters from 2001 reported rumors and talk-radio claims of rooftop celebrations in places like Paterson or Jersey City, but the strongest, verifiable reporting did not document mass cheering events on American soil and local officials denied any such widespread jubilation [1] [7] [4]. FactCheck.org and PolitiFact reviewed archives and concluded there were no widespread televised celebrations in New Jersey as Trump described [4] [3].
3. The evidence that exists — limited, patchy, and unsourced
Investigations found a few uncorroborated or unsourced mentions and persistent rumors. For Jersey City specifically, PolitiFact found two uncorroborated mentions and noted the Associated Press described “rumors of rooftop celebrations” [3]. NJ Advance Media’s reporting and academic inquiries recorded some individuals who remember small, local incidents or noise-making in Paterson but stressed that these accounts do not substantiate the scale Trump claimed [8]. In short, available records show isolated reports or rumors, not the mass celebrations Trump described [3] [8].
4. How fact-checkers and major outlets judged the claim
Multiple major outlets and fact-check organizations concluded Trump’s description was inaccurate or unsupported. TIME and Reuters documented that extended news footage and reporters at the time found “no jubilee in the streets” and that fact-checkers “debunked” the large-scale claim [1] [2]. FactCheck.org said there were no widespread televised celebrations in New Jersey and urged caution about conflating overseas footage of celebrations with events on U.S. soil [4].
5. Why memories and rumors persisted
Coverage after 9/11 included fear, rumor and rapidly circulating reports; talk radio and the internet amplified claims that were never corroborated on camera. Some New Jersey residents later insisted they recalled seeing celebrations, and a small number of local accounts documented noisy reactions by a few individuals — which can explain why memories persisted even without broad media corroboration [8]. Researchers noted that isolated events, talk-radio repetition, and conflation with celebrations in other countries likely fueled the impression of larger celebrations [3] [8].
6. Competing perspectives and political context
Trump used his claim to argue for increased scrutiny of Muslim communities and to suggest political points about security and immigration; his defenders cited anecdotal confirmations from supporters and broader reports of celebrations overseas to justify his memory [2] [9]. Critics and local officials called the claim “shameful politicising” and pointed to the lack of documentary evidence in U.S. news archives [7] [10]. Outlets that found no evidence framed the matter as a debate between anecdote-driven political rhetoric and archival fact-checking [4] [1].
7. What reliable sources do not say
Available sources do not present contemporaneous television footage or comprehensive, sourced reporting that confirms “thousands and thousands” of Muslims cheering in Jersey City on 9/11; instead they document rumors, a few unsourced mentions, and denials by local officials [3] [1]. Sources also do not substantiate Trump’s numerical claim at the scale he stated [3].
8. Bottom line for readers
Trump asserted a vivid, large-scale event — thousands of Muslims celebrating 9/11 in New Jersey — and defended that memory publicly [1] [2]. Multiple journalistic and fact-check reviews of the record find only rumors, isolated uncorroborated mentions, and denials from local officials; they do not corroborate the mass celebrations Trump described [3] [4].