USA14 September, 20262 min read
Trump Considers Releasing 9/11 Records After Families Seek Saudi Arabia Links
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Trump said he would consider releasing more 9/11 records reflecting possible Saudi links. Families of victims pressed for disclosure alleging Saudi officials' influence aided hijackers.
8 outlets told this the same way.
Records and Saudi Allegations
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that he will consider requests from families of Sept. 11 victims to release records that could shed light on Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the attacks 25 years ago.
Trump made the pledge while on a trip to Ireland, telling reporters, “I’m going to look at it when I get back,” just before boarding Air Force One to return to Washington.
The AP account said several families have long alleged that a group of extremist religious leaders in Saudi Arabia gained influence in the Saudi government and aided the hijackers, and that fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudis.
Reuters reported that Trump would consider whether the perpetrators had ties to Saudi Arabia, as families called for declassification of additional records related to the events.
Family Pressure and Quotes
Terry Strada, who lost her husband Tom Strada on 9/11, called on Trump during the remembrance in New York City on Friday to “tell the Saudis to stop lying.”
Strada said U.S. presidents had chosen “to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families,” and she added that the current administration should “stand with the families, stand with the survivors.”
In a confrontation described by Mediaite, a reporter asked Trump at a gaggle on the tarmac before he left Ireland for the United States whether he would be open to releasing more records, and Trump replied, “I could be. Yeah.”
The Mediaite account also framed the families’ request as a push to release records that could tie “maybe some of the hijackers or the people to Saudi Arabia,” while Reuters said families were seeking declassification of additional records.
Lawmakers, Transparency, Next Steps
Reuters said New York lawmakers from both parties have called on the Trump administration to release certain phone records, with U.S. Representative Nicole Malliotakis telling ABC News earlier this month, “This is probably one of the better shots that we have at getting this information out there.”
Reuters also reported that Zohran Mamdani recently released to the public about 170,000 pages of records related to air quality, health concerns and the response to the attacks by the city.
The AP-based accounts tied Trump’s decision to the families’ request to declassify and release relevant records that could shed light on Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the attacks.
Fortune echoed the same core pledge, saying Trump “will look into requests” from families of Sept. 11 victims to release records about Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the attacks 25 years ago.