- Trump orders declassification of files on JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations.
- Thousands of secret documents could reshape understanding of historic events.
- Public transparency prioritized despite CIA resistance to full disclosure.
US President Donald Trump has directed officials to prepare plans for declassifying documents related to three pivotal assassinations in U.S. history: the murders of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.
“A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades,” Trump said during an Oval Office briefing on Thursday. “And everything will be revealed.”
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The order instructs top officials to develop a declassification strategy within 15 days.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine who defected to the Soviet Union and later returned to the U.S. A government commission concluded Oswald acted alone, but the case has fuelled widespread skepticism and numerous conspiracy theories involving government agents, the mafia, and others.
Robert F. Kennedy, JFK’s younger brother, was assassinated in 1968 while campaigning for president in California, just two months after civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee.
While many documents related to the assassinations have been released, thousands remain redacted or classified, particularly concerning the Kennedy investigations. In 1992, Congress mandated the release of all JFK-related files within 25 years. Although both Trump and President Joe Biden released substantial portions of these documents during their presidencies, many remain secret.
In his first term, Trump promised full transparency but withheld some files after pressure from the CIA and FBI. The new executive order asserts that continued secrecy is “not consistent with the public interest.”
Jefferson Morley, a JFK assassination expert, welcomed the move but emphasized that implementation details are crucial. “This process is just beginning,” he said. Recent disclosures have revealed new insights into CIA monitoring of Oswald and other circumstances surrounding JFK’s assassination.
For instance, in 2023, former Secret Service agent Paul Landis disclosed that he retrieved a bullet from Kennedy’s car, raising questions about the “single-bullet theory” that links JFK’s death to Texas Governor John Connally’s injuries.
Morley suggested that while no definitive “smoking gun” may emerge, further document releases could provide significant new information. However, he predicted resistance from intelligence agencies to maintain some level of secrecy.
During the signing ceremony, Trump requested that the pen he used to sign the order be given to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nominee for health secretary and a prominent skeptic of official assassination accounts. RFK Jr., the son of Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of JFK, has publicly questioned the conclusions of his father’s assassination, as well as his uncle’s.
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Robert Kennedy Sr. was killed by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian who opposed U.S. support for Israel. RFK Jr., who has spoken to Sirhan in prison, believes he did not act alone—though other Kennedy family members dispute this claim.
Similarly, Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination by James Earl Ray has been challenged by the King family, who suspect a larger conspiracy.
