Trump orders full declassification of JFK, RFK, MLK assassination files

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Former President Donald Trump has directed officials to prepare a plan to declassify documents related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., marking a significant step toward transparency in three of the most pivotal events in American history.

“A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday. “And everything will be revealed.”

The order mandates top administration officials to devise a declassification plan within 15 days, potentially uncovering details still hidden in thousands of redacted files, particularly those tied to the JFK assassination.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, a crime attributed to Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine who defected to the Soviet Union before returning to the U.S. A government commission concluded that Oswald acted alone, but lingering questions have fueled alternative theories involving government agents, organized crime, and other shadowy figures.

Public skepticism remains high, with polls consistently showing that most Americans doubt Oswald acted alone. In 1992, Congress mandated the release of all related documents within 25 years, but both Trump and President Joe Biden withheld portions of the files at the urging of intelligence agencies.

Today’s executive order signals a renewed commitment to full transparency. “Continued secrecy is not consistent with the public interest,” the order stated.

Jefferson Morley, a former journalist and JFK assassination expert, welcomed the move but urged caution. “As a statement of intention, it’s great that the president has put his promise into words on paper. But the details and implementation are everything. This process is just beginning,” he said.

The most recent document releases have added new layers to the story, including revelations about the CIA’s monitoring of Oswald and claims from former Secret Service agent Paul Landis, who suggested that the infamous “single bullet theory” may not hold up. Morley noted that while a “smoking gun” may not emerge, full transparency could significantly advance public understanding.

Trump’s order also touched on the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. RFK, killed in 1968 while campaigning for the presidency, was officially shot by Sirhan Sirhan, though RFK’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has expressed doubts, claiming Sirhan was not the true assassin.

King, the renowned civil rights leader, was killed in Memphis by James Earl Ray, a white nationalist. The King family has long alleged that Ray was part of a broader conspiracy rather than acting alone.

During Thursday’s signing ceremony, Trump handed the pen he used to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., JFK’s nephew and his nominee for health secretary. RFK Jr., a longtime skeptic of the official narratives surrounding his father’s and uncle’s deaths, has called for greater transparency in the investigations.

While the full impact of the declassification remains to be seen, experts agree that the revelations could reshape public understanding of these defining moments in U.S. history. “This story is not over,” Morley remarked, emphasizing the ongoing tug-of-war between transparency and intelligence agencies’ resistance to full disclosure.