9/11 Widow Terry Strada Breaks Ground Zero's No-Politics Tradition To Accuse US Leaders of 25 Years of Betrayal

Standing before living former presidents and the vice president, Terry Strada used her moment at the microphone to say what the ceremony's format was never designed to carry.

The reading of the names at Ground Zero follows a solemn format that has remained largely unchanged over the years. Relatives step up, read a portion of the nearly 3,000 names, and add a few words for their own person. Political leaders attend, but the New York ceremony traditionally does not feature political speeches.

On Friday, however, Strada used her turn to read her husband's name to accuse successive US administrations of failing to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for what she alleges was its role in the attacks.

'Still We Have No Justice'

Tom Strada was 41 and working on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center's North Tower when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the building. A bond broker at Cantor Fitzgerald, he and Terry had three children. Their youngest was just four days old when he died.

After reading his name, Strada said he was missed more with every year that passed. She then asked how 25 years could have gone by 'and still we have no justice for the role Saudi Arabia played in your murder'.

Strada is national chair of 9/11 Families United, an advocacy group that has spent years pressing the US government for greater disclosure about alleged Saudi connections to the attacks.

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens. Saudi Arabia has consistently denied involvement in the attacks, and US investigations have not established that the Saudi government ordered or directed them. The question of possible links between Saudi nationals and some of the hijackers has nevertheless remained a focus of litigation and investigation.

An Accusation Aimed at the Front Row

What followed was directed at the political leaders gathered for the ceremony.

Strada said that for 25 years, administration after administration, including leaders present at the ceremony, had chosen to protect the Saudis rather than stand with the families.

She accused successive administrations of withholding evidence and breaking public and private promises, while also condemning the 2016 veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act.

'It has been one betrayal after another,' she said.

All living former US presidents were in attendance. So was Vice President JD Vance, the most senior member of the Trump administration at the New York ceremony. President Donald Trump attended a separate commemoration at the Pentagon.

The remarks drew loud applause.

A Direct Appeal to Trump and Vance

Strada then turned from accusation to request.

She said Trump could still change course, and called on him to tell the Saudis to stop lying. She said that if the kingdom wanted friendship with the United States, it could not continue denying the pain and destruction families had lived through.

Addressing Vance directly, she thanked him for attending and asked him to carry the message back to Washington, urging him to stand with the families, the survivors, and with Americans.

The Case She Says Has Been Proven

Strada has spent years pursuing legal action against Saudi Arabia, and she has cited the litigation as evidence supporting the families' allegations.

But the court record is more limited than saying Saudi complicity has been proved.

In August 2025, US District Judge George Daniels rejected Saudi Arabia's request to dismiss the families' civil case, allowing it to proceed. The ruling found that the plaintiffs had presented sufficient allegations and evidence for their claims to survive the dismissal stage. It was not a final judicial finding that the Saudi government ordered, participated in, or otherwise caused the September 11 attacks.

The lawsuit centres in part on allegations concerning Saudi nationals Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy and their alleged connections to two of the hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar. Saudi Arabia has denied supporting or causing the attacks.

Strada's reference to the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, points to another important part of the families' campaign.

President Barack Obama vetoed JASTA in September 2016, arguing that it could have significant consequences for US national interests and foreign sovereign immunity. Congress overrode his veto on Sept. 28, 2016, and the legislation became law.

JASTA created an exception to foreign sovereign immunity for certain terrorism-related claims against foreign states.

Timing That Sharpened the Message

The speech landed against an uncomfortable backdrop.

Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have maintained close ties, and Axios has reported that Riyadh is currently pressing Washington for military assistance.

Reuters also reported Friday that bin Salman had sought US military assistance in confronting the Houthis. Families have voiced discomfort over that closeness for years.

Separately, the CIA released 71 presidential briefs relating to the 9/11 attacks on Friday, a disclosure that arrived on the same day Strada was accusing the government of holding material back.

The Ground Zero ceremony is designed to remain largely apolitical. The New York ceremony traditionally avoids political speeches, focusing instead on the victims, their families and the reading of the names.

Strada went off script, in front of the men who had held the office she was addressing, and the crowd cheered.

Twenty-five years on, the families are still asking the same question, and on Friday one of them asked it directly to the people they believed could answer it.