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Donald Trump signs order to unseal files on John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr, Robert Kennedy assassinations
Trump promised to release the documents during his first term but later complied with intelligence community requests to keep much of the material classified.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to declassify documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Bloomberg reported.
Trump initially promised to release these documents during his first term but ultimately yielded to the intelligence community's requests to keep much of the material classified. However, he renewed his commitment during his most recent presidential campaign.
"Everything will be revealed," Trump told reporters as he signed the order in the Oval Office of the White House.
The order, signed by Trump on Thursday in the Oval Office, asserts that any potential harm to defence, intelligence, law enforcement, or diplomatic operations is outweighed by the public's right to know. It instructs top national security officials in his administration to submit a plan to Trump within 15 days on how to fully release the records.
“Their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth,” the order said. “It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.”
In an interview on the “All-In” podcast last year, Trump claimed the Central Intelligence Agency was behind the request to delay the release during his first term and likely opposed further declassification efforts.
Details of the executive order, including whether it mandates a full declassification, remain unclear.
According to the New York Post, President Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963 in Dallas, with Lee Harvey Oswald identified as the primary suspect. Oswald himself was killed two days later by Jack Ruby, fueling ongoing conspiracy theories.
Robert F. Kennedy was killed in June 1968 by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian Christian, shortly after winning California’s Democratic presidential primary.
Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968 by James Earl Ray, following federal efforts to undermine King’s advocacy against racial discrimination.
