Trump Announces Release of All JFK Files Scheduled for Tuesday

During a visit to the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., on March 17, President Donald Trump announced that the long-awaited documents, totaling around 80,000 pages related to the assassination of the late president, are about to be made public. 

“While we’re here, it seemed fitting,” Trump told the press. “We are announcing and releasing all of the Kennedy files tomorrow. People have been waiting for decades to see this.” 

Soon, both researchers and the general public will gain access to thousands of previously confidential documents, although no summary will accompany the release. 

“We have a vast amount of material. There’s plenty to read,” Trump remarked. “It’s a lot, and you’ll form your own opinions.” 

Prior releases of declassified information often contained significant redactions, a situation the president assured would not be the case with this forthcoming disclosure.

“I don’t expect we will redact anything,” Trump stated. “I said, ‘Just don’t redact. You cannot redact.’” 

Trump reiterated his campaign promise from last year to release these classified documents. 

“I’m true to my word,” Trump stated. “It’s going to be quite fascinating.” 

He signed an executive order on January 23, instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard to devise a comprehensive disclosure plan by February 7. 

“I have determined that the ongoing redaction and withholding of information from the records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not in the public interest, and the release of these records is overdue,” Trump wrote in the order. 

A law enacted by Congress, known as the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, mandated the release of all government records related to the event by October 26, 2017.

Trump permitted a partial release after receiving advice from intelligence officials who recommended against a complete disclosure, while President Joe Biden postponed the release twice.

Since Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963, there has been ongoing speculation about the government’s knowledge on the matter, with the slow disclosure process fueling suspicions among those advocating for declassification.

“A nation that fails to trust its people is a nation that fears its people,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote, expressing gratitude to Trump for the full declassification order. “A government that withholds information exhibits an inherent fear of its citizens’ ability to make informed choices and engage in democracy.”

Some critics of the secrecy warned that the lack of transparency could erode public confidence in the federal government.

“When people conceal something, it’s because they are hiding something,” true crime researcher and author John Leake told The Epoch Times. “They’re reluctant to share information because it holds details that someone in power doesn’t want out.”

He termed the delays “perplexing.”

The official account, as detailed in the Warren Commission report—led by Chief Justice Earl Warren—attributes the assassination to lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald.

Over 5 million documents related to the investigation are stored at the National Archives, with roughly 5,000 pages never viewed by the public.