NEW YORK — Terry Strada, national chair of 9/11 Families United and widow of a man killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, called on President Donald Trump to bring the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to justice for fomenting terrorism.
She made the appeal after accusing former presidents who attended Friday’s 25th anniversary 9/11 Memorial of protecting the kingdom.
All four living former U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden — attended the event along with Vice President JD Vance.
“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. They withheld evidence. They vetoed JASTA (Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act); they broke promises, both public and private,” said Strada after reading several names of 9/11 victims, including her late husband, Thomas “Tom” S. Strada.
Tom Strada was a 41-year-old bond broker and partner at Cantor Fitzgerald when he was killed on the 104th floor of the North Tower during the September 11 terrorist attacks.
“It has been one betrayal after another. President Trump can still change that. Tell the Saudis to stop lying. Tell them that if they want to be friends of the USA, they cannot continue to deny all of this. All of the pain. All of the destruction that we have been suffering through.”
The Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, is a law passed in 2016 that allows American citizens and victims of international terrorism to file civil lawsuits against foreign governments and their officials for providing material support, assistance or conspiring with terrorist groups. The law was initially vetoed by President Barack Obama but Congress voted to override his veto.
Families of 9/11 victims initiated a civil lawsuit against Saudi Arabia in 2003. In August 2025, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels issued a historic ruling stating that 9/11 victim families had presented enough credible evidence of Saudi government involvement to deny Saudi Arabia’s motion to dismiss and allow the multi-billion-dollar lawsuit to advance toward trial.
Daniels stated in his opinion that an imam and an accountant’s employment by Saudi Arabia probably had links to their support of two al-Qaida members who came to the U.S. in early 2000 to study English and take flight lessons.
“Plaintiffs have provided evidence that creates the overall impression that Bayoumi and Thumairy were not just an accountant or an imam as they claim, and their employment had some connection with assisting the hijackers,” Daniels wrote in his 45-page opinion. “They were in direct communication with KSA [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] officials during their relevant activities. Therefore, by assisting and providing support to the hijackers, they acted within the scope of their employment. Because the factors applicable for the doctrine of vicarious liability favor plaintiffs, plaintiffs have met their burden to show that the JASTA exception applies.”
In her statement Friday, Terry Strada pointed to Daniels’ opinion before calling out the former presidents.
“We finally made it into the 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 Islamic hijackers so they could attack you and all of our loved ones,” she declared before charging Vice President Vance to bring her message back to President Trump.
“Vice President Vance, thank you for being here today. Please carry that message back,” she said. “Stand with the families. Stand with the survivors. Stand with the Americans. As my husband Tom would have said, ‘that is always the right thing to do’ God bless all of us, God bless America.”
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