A 9/11 widow used the 25th anniversary ceremony at Ground Zero on Friday to accuse former presidents of shielding Saudi Arabia rather than standing with victims’ families.
It was an incredibly courageous stand that resulted in cheers despite the somber atmosphere.
After reading the name of her husband, Tom Strada, Terry Strada took a moment to address former administrations and some in attendance for their cowardice in holding Saudi Arabia accountable for its role in the worst terror attack ever conducted on American soil.
"And my husband, Tom Strada, you are missed more with each year that passes. But how can it be 25 years, and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?" she asked.
The crowd responded with appreciation. And she wasn't done there.
"Yes, we finally made it into a court and have proved that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia fomented a rancid culture of anti-American terrorism around the globe and then sent its agents to support the radical Islamist hijackers so they could attack you and all of our loved ones," Strada, who is the national chair of 9/11 Families United, continued.
"But for 25 years, administration after administration, including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families."
9/11 WIDOW CONFRONTS FORMER PRESIDENTS AT GROUND ZERO
— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) September 11, 2026
After reading the name of her husband, Tom Strada, Terry Strada delivered a blistering message over the families’ 25-year fight for answers about Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in 9/11:
“Administration after administration,… pic.twitter.com/DGjP2tk0zp
At a memorial event known for silence, the cheers as Strada tore into failed leaders were deafening.
"They withheld evidence. They vetoed JASTA (Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act). They broke promises both public and private," she railed. "It has been one betrayal after another."
Strada then pivoted to President Trump and suggested he still had a chance to change what others had failed to do.
"Tell the Saudis to stop lying," she demanded. "Tell them that if they want to be friends with the USA, they cannot continue to deny all of this — all of the pain, all of the destruction that we have all been suffering through."
Strada turned to Vice President JD Vance and thanked him for attending the memorial.
"Please carry that message back. Stand with the families. Stand with the survivors. Stand with Americans," she urged. "As my husband Tom would have said, 'That is always the right thing to do.'"
Strada has previously described the horrific events that day 25 years ago, when she spoke to her husband for the last time.
He worked in the North Tower on the 104th floor for Cantor Fitzgerald. I was home with our three children, who were seven, four, and four days old. On September 11, he got up and went to work like everyone else on a beautiful, sunny day, and was planning to come home early, only he did not. And when he got to the office that morning, he called me to check in on the kids early. And then he called and said, 'A plane has hit the building.' And my heart stopped. I was standing in front of the TV, and it wasn't on the television yet, so my mind thought, small airplane. He was very frantic sounding, the noises I heard in the background sounded frantic, screaming and the swishing noise, which must have been air, you know, that was going through where the windows were going out. He was scared. It was awful. And we said our personal things to each other, and he was going to the stairwell, and thought he would get out. But as we've all learned, the stairwells were gone. There was no chance of anyone getting down from above the impact zone in the North Tower. And he thought also maybe he would go up to the roof, but those doors were locked, so they were trapped, and it was horrific."
President Trump has had the difficulty of walking a tightrope of accountability for the families while trying to tighten US-Saudi Arabia relations.
Families and some New York Republicans have asked the President to release remaining records on alleged Saudi links to the hijackers, including phone logs tied to Omar al-Bayoumi. The White House said the administration is “working diligently to identify records” responsive to that request, but those files have not been made public.
At the same time, Trump has hosted Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and pushed a closer commercial and diplomatic partnership, including hopes of bringing Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords.
In 2019, Trump signed the law that permanently funded the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and extended the filing deadline to 2090. His first term also oversaw the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and a strike that killed Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza. Those were important counterterror wins.
Prior to this morning's events, Strada expressed hope that Saudi Arabia's "day of reckoning will come."
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