President Donald Trump said Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, that he will look into requests from Sept. 11 victims’ families to release more records that could speak to alleged Saudi ties to the hijackers — a consideration, not a commitment, delivered on the way home from Ireland.

Speaking to reporters at Shannon Airport just before boarding Air Force One, Trump was asked about the families’ push for further declassification. “I’m going to look at it when I get back,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “I know they asked me Friday.”

Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals. Families have long argued that extremist religious networks with influence in Saudi Arabia aided the plot; the Saudi government has repeatedly denied involvement. Relatives are pressing the White House to declassify additional U.S. government material — including phone records New York lawmakers from both parties have urged the administration to release.

At Friday’s New York remembrance, family advocate Terry Strada called on Trump to “tell the Saudis to stop lying,” and said prior presidents “chose to protect the Saudis instead of standing with the 9/11 families.” “It has been one betrayal after another,” she said. “President Trump can still change that.” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), who has joined bipartisan pressure for more disclosure, told ABC News earlier this month the moment may be “one of the better shots that we have at getting this information out there.”

Trump’s Sunday answer keeps the transparency brand warm without locking a timeline or a document list. Declassification still runs through executive equities and classification reviews — power concentrated in the presidency, which is exactly why families keep asking the person who can sign the order.

Sources