'It's a lot of stuff' - Trump releases 80,000 classified pages relating to JFK assassination, honouring campaign promise
18 March 2025, 23:17 | Updated: 18 March 2025, 23:54
Donald Trump has released 80,000 pages relating to the controversial assassination of former president John F. Kennedy.
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The assassination has been the subject of widespread conspiracy theories, and 95% of files on JFK’s assassination have already been revealed.
"It's a lot of stuff, and you'll make your own determination," Trump told reporters on Monday, saying 80,000 pages would be released.
He has previously also ordered the release of files on the assassination of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and files on JFK’s brother, former New York senator and US Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy Sr.
The files have now been released to the public, according to Reuters.
Trump had attempted to release these files during his first stint in office but faced considerable pushback from security officials.
Lee Harvey Oswald has long been considered to former president’s killer and is believed to have acted alone.
However, many still believe some details are being withheld from the public and questions remain unanswered.
In order to comply with Trump's directive, the U.S. Justice Department instructed lawyers who specialise in sensitive national-security documents to urgently review records from the assassination, according to a Monday evening email seen by Reuters.
A White House official said the documents are set to be released on Tuesday afternoon through the National Archives.
Trump signed an executive order in January, shortly after his inauguration, instructing federal agencies to release the documents.
Soon after the order was signed, the Federal Bureau of Investigation scrambled to find thousands of documents related to the assassination.
The order he signed promised to bring about a “full and complete release of records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.”
“I have now determined that the continued redaction and withholding of information from records pertaining to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is not consistent with the public interest and the release of these records is long overdue,” the order states.
