Trump: I’ll Look at Releasing More 9/11 Files on Saudi Arabia When I Get Home

President Trump said Sunday he will review a request from Sept. 11 families to declassify remaining records that they say may tie hijackers or facilitators to Saudi officials, telling reporters on the Shannon Airport tarmac that he “could be” open to a release after he returns to Washington. The ask is separate from the CIA’s Friday dump of 71 previously unseen presidential daily briefs warning of al-Qaeda plots before the attacks. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. The Saudi government has long denied any official role.

A reporter asked whether he would help families “hold Saudi Arabia accountable” and release “more records that tie maybe some of the hijackers or the people to Saudi Arabia.” Trump said, “Yeah, I heard that.” Asked if he would be open to it: “Well, I’m going to look at it when I get back. I know they asked me on Friday. I’ll be looking at it when I get back.” Pressed again: “I could be. Yeah.” He boarded Air Force One after two days in Ireland. He did not name specific files, set a deadline, or commit to declassification.

The demand was made Friday at Ground Zero during the 25th-anniversary ceremony, which Vice President JD Vance attended with former Presidents Bush, Clinton, Obama, and Biden. Trump spoke at the Pentagon. Terry Strada, whose husband Tom was killed in the towers and who chairs 9/11 Families United, told the crowd, “How can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role Saudi Arabia played in your murder?” She said administration after administration, “including leaders in front of us here today, chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families,” and added, “President Trump can still change that: tell the Saudis to stop lying.” She thanked Vance and asked him to carry the message back. A nephew of Lisa Marie Terry, a Marsh & McLennan vice president killed in the attack, said, “For 25 years, the deep state has hidden the truth,” and appealed, “President Trump, you’re our last hope. Release the unredacted files that implicate Saudi Arabia, while what’s left of the victims’ families are still alive to see it.” Brett Eagleson, whose father died that day, has separately asked why JFK assassination records could be released but not additional 9/11 files.

Families have sued the kingdom for years. Their case focuses in part on Omar al-Bayoumi, a Saudi national who helped hijackers Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Mihdhar find an apartment in San Diego, and Fahad al-Thumairy, a Saudi diplomat and imam at the King Fahd Mosque in California who had contacts with al-Bayoumi. In August 2025, U.S. District Judge George Daniels allowed claims against Saudi Arabia to proceed, finding enough evidence to infer the kingdom employed two people who assisted the hijackers. The ruling did not find Riyadh responsible for the attacks. Saudi Arabia is appealing; arguments are set for Oct. 7 in Manhattan. The 2004 9/11 Commission reported it found no evidence that the Saudi government “as an institution,” or senior officials individually, funded al-Qaeda, while noting the kingdom may have turned a blind eye to fundraising. Families say later FBI and British material, and the civil docket, go beyond that public record. Riyadh continues to deny involvement. Trump has a close working relationship with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; he spoke with him last week after the Saudi East-West pipeline strike. No White House schedule for a records review was announced Sunday.