9/11: Donald Trump 'lied about using $150,000 to help small businesses' after terror attacks

The aim of the government program was to help small businesses get back on their feet

Mr Trump said he had done 'great work' in helping his home city after 9/11 (Reuters)

Presidential candidate Donald Trump allegedly used $150,000 (£113,000) of government funds after the September 11 attacks for cleaning and repair costs rather than helping local small businesses.

The Republican said several times during the presidential campaign trail that he was awarded the sum for helping others after terrorists took down the Twin Towers in Manhattan, but according to an investigation by the New York Post, he claimed the taxpayers' money for “rent loss”, clean-up and repair costs for his nearby skyscraper on Wall Street.

The discovery was made through documents obtained from the Empire State Development Corporation, which carried out the recovery programme after 9/11.

Officials told the newspaper that if Mr Trump had asked for the cash to be reimbursed for his charity work with small businesses, the claim would have been rejected.

“He’s clearly wrong. I saw him say that and he’s obviously wrong,” said David Catalfamo, a senior adviser to former New York City governor George Pataki.

The accusations come as Mr Trump has also been accused of using his own charitable foundation to take other people’s money and give it to charity, while taking credit for himself, as reported by The Washington Post.

The Trump campaign could not be immediately reached for comment.

Mr Trump told TIME magazine in April that the money was “probably a reimbursement” for allowing people to stay in his skyscraper at 40 Wall Street for several months and to store items in the building. He did not specify who these people were.

“I was happy to do it, and to this day I am still being thanked for the many people I helped. 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.”

He also told the New York Times a month later that he had done "great work" after the attacks, in the city where he has lived and worked all his life.

Mr Trump’s organisation, along with Morgan Stanley and the Bank of China, were among the “small businesses”, as defined by the New York state government, to receive money in the aftermath of 9/11.

Hours after the attacks, Mr Trump, a registered Democrat, agreed to do a live phone interview.

He boasted that his building at 40 Wall Street was now the tallest building in Manhattan, as reported by Politico.

He has since claimed that he saw hundreds of Muslims cheering and clapping in the street as they watched the Twin Towers fall, yet during the attack he was reportedly watching the news in his Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.