Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,
President Donald Trump said on Sept. 13 he might release records related to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
“I’m going to look at it when I get back,” he told reporters in Ireland, after being asked about recent requests from families of people who perished in the attacks.
A nephew of Lisa Marie Terry, who was in the North Tower at the World Trade Center when it was struck by one of the planes hijacked by Islamic terrorists, was among those who recently called on Trump to declassify records related to the attacks on the center and the Pentagon.
“For 25 years, the deep state has hidden the truth about what happened that day 25 years ago,” he said during a reading of the names of the victims in New York City on Sept. 11.
“President Trump, you are our last hope. Release the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia while what’s left of the victims’ families are still alive to see it.”
Terry Strada, whose husband, Tom Strada, died in the attacks, said during the same event that past administrations have chosen “to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families” and urged Trump to take action.
Fifteen of the 19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, according to the FBI. Some of the families have sued Saudi Arabia, alleging it is liable because officials supported Al Qaeda in the time leading up to the attacks.
A federal judge in 2025 rejected Saudi Arabia’s motion to dismiss the case, concluding there was evidence at that stage that two Saudi Arabian officials assisted the hijackers and that the employees were acting within the scope of their employment.
Lawyers for Saudi Arabia argued that the nation was partnered with the United States against terrorism, Al Qaeda, and its founder, Osama bin Laden, in the 1990s. They disputed allegations that the two Saudi officials knowingly assisted the hijackers as part of a government effort.
President Joe Biden, while in office, ordered the declassification of some records related to 9/11, including a summary of an FBI report from 2016 that listed some Saudi nationals as having connections to 9/11 hijackers.
The Trump administration on Sept. 11 released declassified records showing multiple presidents were warned that Bin Laden was plotting to hijack aircraft and carry out an attack inside the United States, as well as interviews conducted by the 9/11 Commission with top officials, including former President Bill Clinton.
New York City officials also recently made public thousands of documents related to 9/11, including memoranda from city officials discussing their worries about air quality in lower Manhattan in the wake of the attacks.
