Terry Strada called out four former U.S. presidents by name at the 9/11 anniversary ceremony.
Friday marked 25 years since the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, and the solemn reading of victims’ names at Ground Zero became something sharper this year. Terry Strada, whose husband Tom Strada died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center, used her time at the podium to demand accountability over longstanding allegations that Saudi government employees helped some of the hijackers.
She did not hold back.
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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,” Strada said. The crowd responded with applause.
As originally reported, the ceremony drew a remarkable gathering of political figures, including former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. Vice President JD Vance also attended. President Donald Trump marked the anniversary separately at the Pentagon.
Strada spoke directly to the current administration from the podium. She told the crowd it had been “one betrayal after another” and then addressed Trump by name. “President Trump can still change that,” she said. She urged him to press Saudi officials on the allegations tied to the attacks.
She also addressed Vance directly, thanking him for attending before sending him home with a clear message. She asked him to carry her words back to the White House. Her closing lines were simple and direct. “Stand with the families, stand with the survivors. Stand with Americans.”
The remarks put a sharp political edge on what is traditionally a day of quiet remembrance. Strada delivered her appeal in front of survivors, first responders, victims’ relatives, and some of the most powerful current and former officeholders in the country.
The allegations she referenced involve claims that Saudi government employees had contact with and potentially assisted some of the hijackers responsible for the September 11 attacks. Those allegations have driven years of legal battles by victims’ families seeking accountability from the Saudi government. Multiple U.S. administrations have faced criticism for shielding Saudi Arabia from the full weight of those claims.
Strada has been a prominent voice in that fight for years. On Friday, she brought that fight directly to the men who held the power to act on it, with several of them standing just feet away.
Whether the current administration responds to her appeal remains to be seen. But her words landed in front of exactly the audience she intended.
