9/11 widow confronts Bush, Obama and Biden over Saudi cover-up at memorial … as she issues dire warning to Trump and Vance
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At the 25th anniversary memorial for the 9/11 attacks, victims' families used their platform at Ground Zero in New York to publicly accuse successive US administrations of shielding Saudi Arabia from accountability for its alleged role in the attacks. Terry Strada, widow of victim Tom Strada, directly confronted former presidents Bush, Obama and Biden, who sat nearby alongside Vice President JD Vance, saying "administration after administration" had "chosen to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families" through "one betrayal after another". The confrontation matters because it reopens a long-running dispute over declassified evidence just as families' decade-old lawsuit against Saudi Arabia heads towards trial, and comes as the Trump administration deepens ties with Riyadh.
Strada urged President Trump to press Saudi Arabia to "stop lying" and asked Vance to relay that message, while another relative, who lost his aunt Lisa Marie Terry, called on Trump to "release the unredacted files" implicating the kingdom, referencing FBI documents naming Saudi national Omar al-Bayoumi as an alleged intelligence agent linked to the hijackers, 15 of whom were Saudi nationals. Saudi Arabia denies any involvement and continues to contest the lawsuit. Trump did not attend the New York ceremony, instead marking the day at the Pentagon, where he blamed Iran as the "world's number one sponsor of terror" and vowed it would never obtain nuclear weapons, making no mention of Saudi Arabia — a notable omission given his administration has hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is seeking Congressional approval for a Saudi nuclear technology deal, and has relied on Saudi bases for strikes on Iran since February.
- 9/11 families accused Bush, Obama and Biden of shielding Saudi Arabia at Ground Zero memorial
- Widow Terry Strada urged Trump to press Saudis and release classified files
- Trump skipped NYC event, marked anniversary at Pentagon focusing on Iran instead
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Families of 9/11 victims have spent 25 years trying to establish whether Saudi Arabian officials helped the hijackers, and whether the US government knew more than it disclosed. A long-running lawsuit brought by relatives against Saudi Arabia is now approaching trial, and campaigners want classified records, including material linked to a Saudi national named by the FBI in 2022, made public before more survivors and relatives die.
The story centres on remarks made at the 25th anniversary memorial in New York, where relatives directly addressed serving and former US leaders. Terry Strada, whose husband died in the attacks, has for years led efforts to hold Saudi Arabia accountable and has criticised successive administrations, Republican and Democrat alike, for what she sees as prioritising the US-Saudi relationship over victims' families.
The issue carries weight because it touches both an unresolved national trauma and current US foreign policy, as Washington continues to build closer economic and security ties with Saudi Arabia. That backdrop puts pressure on the current administration to decide how much of the classified record it is willing to release.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Those pressing for full declassification argue that twenty-five years is long enough for grieving families to wait, and that the public interest in transparency about an attack that killed thousands outweighs any lingering diplomatic sensitivity. They note that successive administrations of both parties have kept material classified, which they see as evidence that institutional caution, rather than any single president's politics, has repeatedly trumped victims' right to know. For them, releasing the unredacted files, including material naming a suspected Saudi intelligence agent, is a matter of basic accountability and closure that should not depend on preserving a foreign relationship.
The case against
Those urging continued caution argue that classification decisions in cases like this are rarely about shielding wrongdoing and more often reflect genuine concerns about protecting intelligence sources, methods and international partnerships that remain operationally sensitive decades later. They point out that officials across Republican and Democratic administrations, briefed on the same underlying intelligence, reached similar judgements about what could safely be released, which they take as evidence of considered risk assessment rather than coordinated cover-up. They also caution that unredacted investigative material can contain unproven leads or implicate individuals who were never charged, and that foreign policy relationships, including counterterrorism cooperation with Saudi Arabia, are legitimate factors for any government to weigh alongside the families' understandable demand for answers.
Full account
At the Ground Zero memorial marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, relatives of those killed used the occasion to publicly rebuke a succession of American leaders, accusing them of shielding Saudi Arabia from accountability rather than backing the families of the dead. Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the attacks, addressed the crowd directly in front of former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, as well as Vice President JD Vance, telling them that a quarter of a century on, no one had ever been made to answer for the Kingdom's alleged part in the atrocity.
Strada told those gathered that successive governments, including some represented on the stage that morning, had repeatedly chosen to protect Riyadh over supporting bereaved families, pointing to withheld evidence and broken assurances made both publicly and privately. She singled out the 2016 decision by President Obama to veto the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, legislation that Congress subsequently pushed through over his objection, opening the door for relatives to pursue legal action against Saudi Arabia. Turning to the present administration, she said President Trump was still in a position to act, urging him to make clear to Saudi officials that friendship with Washington could not continue alongside denials of responsibility for the suffering the attacks had caused. She also appealed directly to Vance, asking him to relay her message and to stand publicly with survivors and bereaved relatives.
Other speakers reinforced the same demand for transparency. One relative of victim Lisa Marie Terry told the crowd that officials within government had spent 25 years suppressing the full picture, and pressed Trump to release unredacted material they believe ties Saudi individuals to the plot before more relatives pass away. Separately, Dennis McGinley, whose brother died in the South Tower, told reporters that decades of inaction by Washington had turned an already painful chapter into what he called a national embarrassment, and said Trump now had a chance to finally deliver the accountability families had long been denied. Trump himself did not attend the New York ceremony, instead taking part in a separate commemoration at the Pentagon, while the Ground Zero event also drew New York's mayor and a former governor alongside the ex-presidents and their spouses.
The renewed pressure centres on long-standing allegations that Saudi nationals, including Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy, provided practical support to two of the hijackers after their arrival in California, claims examined by the 9/11 Commission without a definitive finding that senior Saudi officials or the government itself were complicit. Riyadh has consistently denied any involvement in the attacks and has spent years contesting a lawsuit brought by victims' families that is now approaching trial. The families want the release of further records, including phone data linked to al-Bayoumi that the FBI has previously described as connected to Saudi intelligence activity, and the White House has said it is working to locate material relevant to their request.
Where outlets differ
The Fox News account gives a fuller list of attendees, noting the presence of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Hillary Clinton, details largely absent from the Daily Mail's version, which focuses more tightly on the former presidents and Vance.
Fox News explicitly links Strada's criticism to Obama's 2016 veto of JASTA and Congress's override, giving that episode more prominence, whereas the Daily Mail mentions the broader pattern of 'broken promises' without naming the JASTA veto directly in Strada's quoted remarks.
The Daily Mail places heavier emphasis on the 'Deep State' framing used by the relative of Lisa Marie Terry and his direct appeal to Trump to release unredacted files, a quote not featured in the Fox News report.
Fox News includes on-the-record reaction from Dennis McGinley criticising the government's handling of the issue as a 'national embarrassment,' a voice not present in the Daily Mail account.
The Daily Mail notes that Trump skipped the Ground Zero ceremony in favour of a Pentagon memorial, and adds context on the White House's stated efforts to identify declassification-relevant records, both details given less prominence in the Fox News piece.
Fox News offers more detailed background on the specific Saudi individuals named in the families' claims, including Fahad al-Thumairy, and notes the 9/11 Commission's finding did not implicate the Saudi government or senior officials, additional nuance not present in the Daily Mail excerpt.
More coverage
- The Hill — 9/11 widow calls out government for protecting Saudis at 9/11 ceremony
- Fox News — At Ground Zero, 9/11 families turn to Trump as Obama’s old decision resurfaces