Evolving Trump: From business celeb on 9-11 to stern leader
WASHINGTON — In the 16 years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Donald Trump has evolved from a celebrity developer whose first public thoughts were about Manhattan’s suddenly altered skyline to the combative commander in chief who warned “savage killers” on Monday “there is no dark corner beyond our reach.”
Trump was in his Fifth Avenue penthouse that clear fall day in 2001, four miles from the World Trade Center and, seemingly, in a previous life from the one he now leads.
When the towers fell, he spoke with measured words about the attackers and about the wounds inflicted on his hometown, a sharp contrast to his more recent incendiary rhetoric about terrorists and his unproven claims about celebrating Muslims.
On Monday, his first 9-11 anniversary as president, Trump carried out a sadly familiar ritual for U.S. leaders.