President Donald Trump has directed officials to prepare a plan to declassify documents related to three of the most significant assassinations in U.S. history: those of
President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“Many people have been waiting for this for years, even decades,” Trump said during a Thursday announcement in the Oval Office. “Everything will be revealed.”
The order requires administration officials to propose a plan for releasing the documents within 15 days. However, it does not guarantee their full declassification.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, followed by the killing of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, in Los Angeles in 1968 during his presidential campaign. Just two months prior, Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee.
While many documents tied to these investigations have been released over the years, thousands remain redacted, especially those connected to the extensive probe into JFK’s death.
Unanswered Questions Persist
JFK was fatally shot by Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine who defected to the Soviet Union before returning to the U.S. A government commission later concluded that Oswald acted alone. However, lingering questions and alternative theories involving government agents, organized crime, and other shadowy players have fueled decades of speculation.
Public opinion surveys consistently show that most Americans doubt the conclusion that Oswald was the sole assassin.
In 1992, Congress passed legislation requiring the release of all assassination-related documents within 25 years. While both Trump and President Joe Biden have released significant batches of these files, thousands remain either partially or fully classified.
Trump initially promised to declassify all files during his first term but backtracked after intelligence officials from the CIA and FBI urged him to withhold some documents. The new executive order asserts that keeping the files secret “is not consistent with the public interest.”
Expert Reactions
Jefferson Morley, a journalist and JFK assassination researcher, welcomed Trump’s announcement but noted the complexities of implementation.
“As a statement of intent, it’s a significant step,” Morley said. “But the details and execution will determine its impact. This is just the beginning of the process.”
Recent document releases have shed light on the CIA’s surveillance of Oswald and other related events. In 2023, Paul Landis, a former Secret Service agent who witnessed Kennedy’s assassination, revealed he had removed a bullet from the president’s car, raising questions about the official account of the “single bullet theory” that claims one bullet hit both Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally.
Morley believes that additional document releases could provide critical insights into the assassination but warns that intelligence agencies may continue to resist full transparency. “This story is far from over,” he said.
The Legacy of RFK and MLK Assassinations
Robert F. Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian man angered by U.S. support for Israel. RFK’s son, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has publicly questioned the official account and even met with Sirhan in prison, expressing doubts about his guilt—a view not shared by other members of the Kennedy family.
Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by James Earl Ray, a white supremacist. However, members of the King family have long argued that Ray did not act alone and that his death was part of a larger conspiracy.
A Symbolic Gesture
During Thursday’s signing ceremony, Trump handed the pen he used to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., JFK’s nephew and Trump’s nominee for health secretary. RFK Jr. has consistently expressed skepticism about official narratives surrounding his uncle’s and father’s assassinations.
As calls for transparency grow, the release of these documents could shine a brighter light on some of the darkest chapters in American history—but the extent of what will be revealed remains uncertain. Photo by Cecil Stoughton, White House, Wikimedia commons.
