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President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to declassify all remaining files related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The decision comes after decades of public demands for greater transparency surrounding these historic events.
“That’s a big one, huh? A lot of people have been waiting for this for years—decades,” said Trump at the White House as he signed the order.
The president directed the director of national intelligence and attorney general—both awaiting Senate confirmation—to develop a plan within 15 days to release the remaining JFK assassination files. Plans for the declassification of RFK and MLK files are to follow within 45 days.
As part of the ceremony, Trump instructed an aide to present the pen used to sign the order to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late senator and the president’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. The elder Kennedy, a former attorney general and Democratic presidential candidate, was assassinated in 1968.
The decision builds on a partial release of JFK assassination records in 2022 by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). At that time, NARA stated that 97% of the approximately 5 million pages in its collection had already been made public. However, some 3,000 documents had never been fully disclosed, and many others were released with redactions.
The push for full transparency dates back to the 1992 JFK Assassination Records Collection Act, which required the release of all related documents within 25 years. Despite this mandate, not all files were declassified within the timeline, prompting public frustration and speculation about potential government cover-ups.
President Trump first promised in 2017 to release the remaining JFK files but fell short of making all documents public during his first term. By signing this new executive order, he aims to fulfill his earlier pledge and bring closure to one of the nation’s most enduring historical mysteries.
“This is a critical step for transparency and accountability,” said a senior administration official. “The American people deserve to know the full truth about these tragic events that shaped our history.”
The release is expected to reignite public interest in the assassinations, particularly regarding conspiracy theories and unanswered questions that have lingered for decades.
