The JFK files: the truth at last?
More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination have been released by the Trump administration

"It's been 60 years, time for the American people to know the TRUTH." So declared Donald Trump on the campaign trail, vowing to order the release of all official records related to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. Last week that cache of documents, nearly 64,000 pages of it, was duly released, said A.O. Scott in The New York Times.
Some are illegible owing to age, and it will take months for people to scour through them all. Many, though, will be eager to do so. The JFK assassination is the "source and paradigm of modern conspiratorial thinking". Hosts of self-styled sleuths will be poring through them for evidence that Kennedy was killed by the Mafia or the CIA or the "Deep State".
'They're looking for more questions'
They won't find any, of course, said David Harsanyi in the New York Post, but that won't allay their suspicions. Why? Because conspiracy theorists aren't really looking for the truth; "they're looking for more questions". Still, it was high time these files were released. Washington's tendency to overclassify documents only fuels paranoia. They're unlikely to contain any revelations, but they should yield some intriguing titbits. And those are sure to be misinterpreted by conspiracy theorists.
Subscribe to 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.
One file already much shared on social media, for instance, contained a copy of a 1967 article in Ramparts magazine casting suspicion on the death of Gary Underhill, a CIA man who died by suicide after JFK's death. This means nothing, as it happens: Ramparts was a pro-Soviet magazine that "blamed literally every modern atrocity on the CIA". So far, it seems that decades of secrecy were mainly protecting the CIA's murky practices, said Talya Minsberg et al in The New York Times: illegal surveillance, break-ins and the like. There's not a peep about any "second gunman".
'Trump will do anything for attention'
The only shocking thing about this data dump, said Jack Ohman in the San Francisco Chronicle, is that Trump hyped it up so much. But it's not the first time he has used JFK's killing for political advantage. In 2016, he falsely claimed the father of Ted Cruz, his Republican presidential rival, was implicated in it.
His evidence? A blurry photo of Lee Harvey Oswald handing out pro-Castro leaflets in New Orleans with a dark-haired man who wasn't Rafael Cruz. For all the fanfare over the JFK files, all it really shows is that Trump will "do anything for attention", including "exploiting the murder of a predecessor".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Scientists want to fight malaria by poisoning mosquitoes with human blood
Under the radar Drugging the bugs
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: March 31, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku medium: March 31, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
The EPA: Let’s forget about climate change
Feature You’ll miss the EPA when it’s been gutted, said former EPA heads
By The Week US Published
-
Schumer: Did he betray the Democrats?
Feature 'Schumer had only bad political options'
By The Week US Published
-
Trump's TPS takedown
Feature The president plans to deport a million immigrants with protected status. What effects will that have?
By The Week US Published
-
JFK document dump is a bonanza for conspiracy theorists and historians alike
THE EXPLAINER The release of thousands of files on John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination offers scholars and skeptics a new look at one of the country's lowest moments
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Musk: Is Trump putting him on a leash?
Feature Elon Musk’s aggressive government cuts are facing backlash from Trump’s Cabinet
By The Week US Published
-
SCOTUS: A glimmer of independence?
Feature The Supreme Court rejects Trump’s request to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid payments
By The Week US Published
-
DOGE: Wielding a hatchet at the VA
Feature The Trump administration has cut thousands of Veteran Affairs jobs and is considering eliminating 80,000 more
By The Week US Published
-
U.S. aid resumes as Ukraine agrees to cease-fire
Feature As Trump pressures Ukraine, NATO and European allies weigh new strategies
By The Week US Published