9/11 Families Respond to MBS’s Oval Office Comments: “Our Fury Is Rational—Based on Evidence, Not Emotion.”
WASHINGTON – In response to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s remarks during his Oval Office appearance, 9/11 Families United criticized the Saudi leader for repeating discredited talking points, mischaracterizing the families’ pursuit of justice, and insulting the intelligence of victims, investigators, and the American public.
When ABC’s Mary Bruce told MBS that “9/11 families are furious that you are here,” she gave voice to the thousands of families who have suffered immeasurable losses and the more than two decades investigations exposing the truth behind the attacks.
“Our fury today is not the blind grief of 2001—it is the rational fury of families who have followed the evidence,” said Terry Strada, National Chair of 9/11 Families United. “We have uncovered documents, testimony, and facts that point to the Saudi government’s complicity. We know exactly what its agents were doing in the United States as the plot unfolded.”
During his Oval Office appearance, MBS attempted to revive the long-discredited claim that Osama bin Laden carried out 9/11 to harm the U.S.–Saudi relationship, implying that anyone who believes the evidence against Saudi Arabia is somehow “helping bin Laden’s purpose.”
“That statement was not only false—it was insulting,” Strada said. “He accused the victims’ family members seeking the truth being dupes simply for pointing to the concrete evidence of Saudi support for the first arriving hijackers. It was a pathetic and evasive response.”
MBS also referenced unspecified “CIA documents” to defend his narrative, while simultaneously rejecting the CIA’s conclusion that he ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Families called this “shameless cherry-picking” designed to avoid accountability.
MBS told reporters that bin Laden understood “a strong relationship between Saudi Arabia and America is bad for extremism.” The families countered that history proves otherwise.
“For decades leading up to 9/11, the U.S. gave the Kingdom free rein without assessing the consequences,” Strada said. “That uncritical tolerance allowed Saudi-funded extremism to spread globally. Continuing to shield the Kingdom from accountability today will only repeat that mistake.”
MBS dismissed the Khashoggi murder as a “mistake” and claimed ignorance of it. Families warned that Saudi officials may eventually attempt to downplay the actions of Omar al-Bayoumi and others involved with the hijackers in the same way.
“The financial records, travel patterns, and operational evidence contradict any claim that these were ‘rogue actors,’” Strada said. “This was part of a broader pattern of Saudi-sponsored extremism—something Jamal Khashoggi himself tried to expose.”
The group also criticized President Trump’s remark about Khashoggi’s murder— “things happen”—and his private comment to MBS while touring presidential portraits: “I grabbed that hand. I don’t give a hell where that hand’s been.”
“Those comments signal a shocking indifference to Saudi complicity in the worst terrorist attack in American history,” Strada said, “It dishonors the victims, the first responders, and the service members who fought to defend our nation after 9/11.”
“Things do not just ‘happen,” she continued. “9/11 did not ‘just happen.’ It was enabled and supported. Our lawsuit seeks to expose the truth—not only for justice, but to prevent another tragedy. Only the truth will protect America.”
About 9/11 Families United:
9/11 Families United is an organization consisting of family members of those murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as many of those who survived, were injured in or sickened from the attacks, a community that numbers well over 10,000. More information is at www.911familiesunited.org
###
