President Donald Trump fulfilled a campaign promise by signing an executive order to declassify all remaining documents related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Everything will be revealed,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office while signing the executive order Thursday, Jan. 23.
The assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK Jr. have long been the subjects of widespread speculation and conspiracy theories. People have questioned whether the official narratives –– often involving lone gunmen –– are accurate, or if other forces were involved.
The public has wondered if there are hidden details, concealed for decades, that could change our understanding of history.
President Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963. The suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, told reporters he did not kill the president. Oswald was shot and killed two days later.
The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 required the release of all documents related to JFK’s assassination by October 2017 — unless the president determined that the harm of releasing the files outweighed the public’s interest.
During Trump’s first term in office, he promised to release all the files. However, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., RFK’s son, told Tucker Carlson during an interview in August 2024 that former CIA Director and Trump’s then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pressured Trump not to release the JFK documents.
“I talked to President Trump for the first time about that this week,” RFK Jr. told Carlson.
“What did he say?” Carlson asked.
“He said that, he said that Mike Pompeo begged him. And I don’t think I’m telling tales out of school here because he said the same thing to you,” RFK Jr. said.
“It’s true,” Carlson replied.
“But he said Mike Pompeo called him and said this would be a catastrophe to release these, you need to not do it,” RFK Jr. said.
People have questioned why all records related to a president’s assassination nearly 62 years ago have not been publicly released.
RFK Jr. has said he believes the CIA was involved in his uncle’s murder. He says keeping the remaining documents classified is the government’s way of covering it up.
After signing the executive order, Trump told his aide to give the pen he used to sign the order to “RFK Jr.”
The executive order states that more than 50 years after their assassinations, “their families and the American people deserve transparency and truth. It is in the national interest to finally release all records related to these assassinations without delay.”
