Trump admin declassifies 9/11 files showing Clinton received ‘explosive-packed airplane’ attack warning in September 1998
Published Sep. 11, 2026
Updated Sep. 11, 2026, 3:31 p.m. ET
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WASHINGTON — Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were warned repeatedly that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was scheming to attack the US using hijacked passenger jets — but still failed to stop the 9/11 attacks, according to a devastating cache of files released by the Trump administration Friday.
The formerly classified documents, some of which were previously described in press reports, buttress post-attack assessments that Washington did too little to counteract bin Laden’s Islamist terror band, leading to the deaths of nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.
The documents claimed Al Qaeda members were present in the US and had even performed a “trial run” at a New York airport nearly three full years before the staggering assault that took down the Twin Towers.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an observance ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, in Washington, D.C.REUTERS
“Bin Laden [sic] Preparing To Hijack US Aircraft,” a Dec. 4, 1998, document prepared for Clinton’s Presidential Daily Brief ominously warned.
“Some members of the Bin Laden network have received hijack training, according to various sources,” the document said. “Bin Laden could be weighing other types of operations against US aircraft.”
The document added that a source had revealed that “Bin Laden might implement plans to hijack a US aircraft before the beginning of Ramadan on 20 December and that two members of the operational team had evaded security checks during a recent trial run at an unidentified New York airport.”
“Bin Laden [sic] Preparing To Hijack US Aircraft,” a Dec. 4, 1998, document prepared for Clinton’s Presidential Daily Brief ominously warned.
“Some members of the Bin Laden network have received hijack training, according to various sources,” the document said. “Bin Laden could be weighing other types of operations against US aircraft.”
The document added that a source had revealed that “Bin Laden might implement plans to hijack a US aircraft before the beginning of Ramadan on 20 December and that two members of the operational team had evaded security checks during a recent trial run at an unidentified New York airport.”


