Trump orders release of JFK, RFK, MLK Jr. files

President John F. Kennedy right before 1963 assassination

(Image credit: Bettmann via Getty Images)

What happened

President Donald Trump Thursday signed an executive order to release thousands of classified documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.

Who said what

About 99% of the government's roughly 320,000 documents on the JFK assassination have already been released, according to the National Archives, including in batches released by Trump during his first term and by President Joe Biden in 2023. Several thousand remain classified or partially redacted, including CIA files. Trump told reporters "everything will be revealed."

Trump has "long indulged in conspiracy theories" about JFK's 1963 assassination, The New York Times said. "The records will not reveal any smoking gun," Tom Samoluk, who reviewed all the classified records in the 1990s under a government review board, said to ABC Boston affiliate WCVB. But "there will be some puzzle pieces that will be put back in that will tell a more robust and rich story."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

What next?

Trump directed officials to develop a plan within 15 days to release the "full and complete" JFK records, and 45 days to plan publication of the more dispersed records on the 1968 RFK and MLK assassinations. It's not clear when the records would be released.

Explore More

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.