Trump to Declassify Files on JFK, RFK, MLK Assassinations

President Donald Trump is slated to declassify files and documents relating to the assassinations of famous Americans “in the coming days.”

In a speech shortly before his inauguration, Trump vowed transparency from his administration, pledging to declassify and release to the public information on the deaths of President John F. Kennedy, his brother and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and activist Martin Luther King Jr.

The 47th president declared: “As a first step toward restoring transparency and accountability to government, we will also reverse the overclassification of government documents, and in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other topics of great public interest. It’s all going to be released, Uncle Sam.”

Following the attempt on his life in July of last year, Trump promised that he would form a commission on assassination attempts, tasked with publishing documents related to John F. Kennedy’s death. The announcement came as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—whose uncle and father were both assassinated—endorsed Trump for president.

“Soon after I was—I can’t even believe I have to say this—nearly assassinated in Pennsylvania last month, Bobby called me to express his best wishes. He knows firsthand the risks incurred by leaders who stand up to the corrupt political establishment,” Trump stated.

He continued, “And when you stand up, you bring on some trouble for yourself, but you have to do what’s right. You have to do what’s right for the country. I’ll tell you, we are both in this to do what’s right for the country.”

President John F. Kennedy was notoriously assassinated on November 22, 1963, while riding through Dallas in a presidential motorcade. Robert F. Kennedy was slain at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has insisted that the CIA was involved in the assassination of his uncle.

“There is overwhelming evidence that the CIA was involved in his murder,” he said in a 2023 interview. “I think it’s beyond a reasonable doubt at this point.”

However, this is not the first time that Trump has promised to share information related to the Kennedy assassinations. During his first administration, Trump did release a number of documents related to JFK’s death but ultimately acceded to the advice of CIA and FBI officials who claimed that releasing more information to the public could pose a national security risk. CIA spokeswoman Nicole de Haay said at the time, in 2018, that the agency “narrowly redacted information in rare instances only to protect CIA assets, officers and their families as well as intelligence methods, operations and partnerships that remain critical to the security of our nation.”

In 1992, the U.S. Congress passed the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which stipulated that all records pertaining to the assassination must be made public within 25 years, or by October 26, 2017. According to the act, the president is given authority to keep certain records sealed past that date.

Trump discussed his decision not to publish all files related to the Kennedy assassination in his appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast in November, on the eve of the election.

“I was met with … people that were well-meaning. [Former Secretary of State and CIA director] Mike Pompeo was one of them, he’s a good person. They called me [and] said, ‘Sir, we’d rather have you not,’” Trump recounted of his decision, adding that a “Martin Luther King file” also exists.

He continued, “So I said, ‘Well, we’ll close it for another time.’ But if I win, I’m just going to open them up.”

When asked why he did not declassify the remaining files during his first term but is open to doing so in his second, Trump replied, “People that are still living, there are people that are affected.”

He added, “I think it’s going to be just fine to open it. Let me put it that way, it’s going to be fine. I think it’s time. It’s a cleansing. … So, I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it immediately, almost immediately upon entering office.”

Although the CIA claimed during Trump’s first term that 99% of documents related to the Kennedy assassination had been declassified and released, Trump estimated on Rogan’s podcast that he only declassified 50% of the Kennedy files.

Originally published by The Washington Stand.

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