Donald Trump is to release a trove of long-classified documents on the assassination of former president John F Kennedy.
Tweeting over the weekend, the current US President said “subject to receipt of further information” he would allow the “long blocked and classified JFK files to be opened”.
In 1992, partly in response to the Oliver Stone film JFK, Congress ruled that all documents relating to the assassination should be released within 25 years, unless the president decided they would harm national security.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The deadline for the release of the final batch of files, believed to number around 3,100 documents, is Thursday 26 October. “It is unclear whether Trump intends to allow the release in full or with redactions,” says the BBC.
Even though their publication is required by law, “speculation has mounted among his critics that Trump might have readily agreed to release the files in order to distract from the ongoing investigation into his alleged ties with Russia”, says The Independent.
The Washington Post claims Kennedy assassination experts do not think the last batch of papers contains any bombshells. However, it may shed light on Lee Harvey Oswald’s activities in Mexico City months before the assassination and especially his links to the CIA, potentially discrediting one of the agencies investigating Trump over his links to the Kremlin.
Oswald was arrested in Dallas just hours after the President was shot on 22 November 1963 and was himself gunned down by night-club owner Jack Ruby while in police custody two days later.
Trump is no stranger to spreading JFK conspiracy theories, says Newsweek, “alleging that the father of his rival for the Republican presidential candidacy, Ted Cruz, was involved in the plot, prompting a furious denial from the Texas senator”.
-
Political cartoons for January 18Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include cost of living, endless supply of greed, and more
-
Exploring ancient forests on three continentsThe Week Recommends Reconnecting with historic nature across the world
-
The rise of the spymaster: a ‘tectonic shift’ in Ukraine’s politicsIn the Spotlight President Zelenskyy’s new chief of staff, former head of military intelligence Kyrylo Budanov, is widely viewed as a potential successor
-
Trump threatens Minnesota with Insurrection ActSpeed Read The law was passed in 1807 but has rarely been used
-
The high street: Britain’s next political battleground?In the Spotlight Mass closure of shops and influx of organised crime are fuelling voter anger, and offer an opening for Reform UK
-
Why is Trump threatening defense firms?Talking Points CEO pay and stock buybacks will be restricted
-
‘The security implications are harder still to dismiss’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge clears wind farm construction to resumeSpeed Read The Trump administration had ordered the farm shuttered in December over national security issues
-
Trump DOJ targets Fed’s Powell, drawing pushbackSpeed Read Powell called the investigation ‘unprecedented’
-
What are Donald Trump’s options in Iran?Today's Big Question Military strikes? Regime overthrow? Cyberattacks? Sanctions? How can the US help Iranian protesters?
-
Maduro’s capture: two hours that shook the worldTalking Point Evoking memories of the US assault on Panama in 1989, the manoeuvre is being described as the fastest regime change in history
