President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to declassify government records related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The move could finally answer lingering questions surrounding the three high-profile killings, which have been shrouded in mystery for over half a century.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“Lot of people are waiting for this for a long, long time, for years, for decades, and everything will be revealed,” Trump said during the signing ceremony in the Oval Office.
The order requires the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to coordinate with the National Security Advisor and Trump’s legal counsel to prepare a plan for the “full and complete release” of all records related to JFK’s assassination within 15 days. It also mandates a review of documents related to the assassinations of RFK and King, with plans for their declassification.
“For more than 50 years, the federal government has not released to the public all of its records related to these events,” the order stated. “Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth.”
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 required full public disclosure of all JFK-related records by 2017 unless the President determined that withholding them was necessary to prevent identifiable harm to national security. Trump, during his first term, authorized delays in 2017 and 2018. His successor, former President Joe Biden, also continued the postponements.
In a recent interview, Trump revealed that former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a former CIA director, had advised against releasing the remaining JFK records during his first term. However, Trump now believes withholding the records is no longer justified, stating, “The release of these records is long overdue.”
While no legislation specifically mandates the release of RFK and King-related documents, Trump’s order extends transparency to their cases, declaring it in the public interest.
RFK Jr., son of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, praised the decision, saying, “I think it’s a great move because they need to have more transparency in our government, and he’s keeping his promise to tell the truth to the American people.”
However, not everyone shared RFK Jr.’s enthusiasm. Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson, dismissed conspiracy theories surrounding his grandfather’s death, writing on social media, “The truth is a lot sadder than the myth — a tragedy that didn’t need to happen.”
The assassinations of these historic figures remain pivotal moments in American history. JFK was killed on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. His younger brother, Senator Robert Kennedy, was assassinated on June 5, 1968, in Los Angeles after winning the California Democratic presidential primary. Two months earlier, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
Trump’s move marks a significant step toward addressing decades-old conspiracy theories and providing closure to the families and the public.
