At Ground Zero, 9/11 families turn to Trump as Obama’s old

Terry Strada has been at this for years, and she’s done it the hard way: showing up, pushing, getting ignored, then showing up again. Now she’s standing at Ground Zero saying what plenty of Americans have muttered for a long time, that successive administrations kept Saudi Arabia wrapped in bubble wrap and told the families to be patient. Patience is not accountability. Especially not 25 years later.

The detail that sticks is the jab at “Obama’s old” crowd, because it’s not just about one former president. It’s about the whole bipartisan habit of treating certain foreign partners as untouchable no matter what questions are hanging in the air. Washington always has a reason. A strategic relationship. A delicate moment. A classified source. And somehow the same families are the ones asked to swallow it. If the files can’t be shown, people will assume the worst. That’s not paranoia. That’s human nature.

This is why Strada and other families are turning to Trump. Not because they think government suddenly becomes pure, but because he has a record of being willing to say no to the usual foreign-policy scripts. If Trump wants to earn that trust again, the ask is simple: release the unredacted 9/11 files unless there’s a specific, credible safety reason not to. Not vague “national security” hand-waving. Real explanations, on the record. Sunlight is the only way this ends.

And let’s be honest: if the answer is that powerful people spent two decades shielding Saudi officials from embarrassment, that’s not a “complex” story. That’s a scandal. The families don’t need more ceremonies and sympathetic statements. They need the government to stop acting like their questions are a nuisance. If Trump takes this on and actually follows through, it won’t just be a political win. It will be a long-overdue act of respect.