The 9/11 widow who denounced Saudi Arabia at the 25th anniversary ceremony Monday hailed President Donald Trump's promise to consider releasing more secret documents that could implicate Saudi leaders in the terror attacks.
A day after Trump vowed to look into the issue, Terry Strada said she has faith that the president will do whatever is necessary to find and declassify documents tying Saudi government agents to the Sept. 11 hijackers.
"We appreciate President Trump's efforts and trust that … he will set into motion a historic shift in policy that sees the United States demand accountability from the Kingdom for its role in the 9/11 Attacks," said Strada, who is national chair of the 9/11 Families United group.
Strada, whose husband, Tom, was killed in the attacks, repeated her plea for Trump to break with previous administrations of both parties and bare any classified files that have remained under wraps for a quarter century.
"It is time for the Trump administration to do their part," she added. "He should apply pressure now, as only he can, and secure the accountability the 9/11 community has long sought."
On Sunday, Trump said he would consider releasing more government documents on Saudi Arabia's possible role in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
"I'm going to look at it," Trump said as he boarded Air Force One to return to Washington after a weekend in Ireland. "I know they asked me Friday."
Trump was responding to an unusual public demand for action by Strada during the poignant reading of the names of the nearly 3,000 victims at Ground Zero.
Some 9/11 families have long claimed that Saudi Arabia played a bigger role in funding and planning the attacks than has been officially acknowledged. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi extremists but the Saudi government says it had nothing to do with the attacks.
"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 Friday. "It has been one betrayal after another. President Trump can still change that."
The families have long demanded that Trump and previous presidents from both parties should declassify any government files that could reveal official Saudi ties to the terrorists. Some advocates have suggested Saudi government agents assisted some of the hijackers as they plotted the attacks.
Any evidence pointing to official Saudi involvement would be a huge embarrassment to the oil-rich close U.S. ally and the Trump administration.