President Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declassifying the files on the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
During his 2024 campaign, Trump promised to declassify previously classified documents.
“Everything will be revealed,” Trump told reporters as he signed the order in the Oval Office of the White House.
During his first administration, Trump promised release all files related to John F. Kennedy, but an unreleased amount of material remains classified more than six decades after Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.
President John F. Kennedy (Getty)
After the CIA and FBI appealed, Trump blocked the release of hundreds of records. Trump said at the time that the potential harm to US national security, law enforcement or foreign affairs was “of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure.”
Trump’s promise to also release extraordinary documents related to King and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy leaves questions about how the president-elect will expedite the release.
Under the Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act, the remaining files related to King are not to be released until 2027.
