Trump signs executive order to declassify JFK, RFK, MLK assassination files

Donald Trump's executive order directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general, once confirmed, to devise a plan within 15 days to release the remaining JFK files

In line with his poll promise, US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to declassify any remaining files related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F Kennedy, and civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The announcement was made at the White House on Thursday (January 23).  

 

The executive order directs the director of national intelligence and the attorney general, once confirmed, to devise a plan within 15 days to release the remaining JFK files. This will be followed by a 45-day period to develop a strategy for releasing the files related to RFK and MLK. 

 

 

  The order said, "Within 45 days of the date of this order, the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General shall, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, review records related to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and present a plan to the President for the full and complete release of these records."

 

It adds, "This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person."

 

President Trump noted the historical importance of the move, saying, “A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades.” He handed the pen used to sign the order to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the late RFK and Trump’s nominee for the Department of Health and Human Services.  

 

The push to release assassination-related files dates back decades. In 1992, Congress mandated that all documents related to the assassinations be released within 25 years. In 2022, some JFK files were made public, with the National Archives stating that 97 per cent of the roughly 5 million pages in its collection were accessible to the public. The CIA also confirmed that 95 per cent of its records had been released, with no documents entirely redacted. 

 

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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2025

 

Trump had pledged during his first term in 2017 to release the remaining JFK files, which included around 3,000 previously unseen documents and 30,000 redacted files. However, not all files were made available at the time.  

 

The Biden administration also released over 13,000 documents related to JFK’s assassination, yet calls for full disclosure persisted. In 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged President Joe Biden to release all files connected to his uncle’s assassination.  

 

Trump’s new commission  

 

In August, RFK Jr., who endorsed Trump after running as both a Democrat and an independent, joined him on stage as Trump announced plans to establish a “new independent presidential commission on assassination attempts.” This commission will oversee the release of remaining documents tied to JFK’s assassination and other similar events.  

 

To recall, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963 during a visit to Dallas, Texas, with Lee Harvey Oswald identified as the gunman. Robert F. Kennedy, a former U.S. attorney general and Democratic presidential candidate, was fatally shot by Sirhan Sirhan in 1968 after winning the California Democratic primary. Dr Martin Luther King Jr., a leader of the civil rights movement, was assassinated the same year in Memphis, Tennessee, by James Earl Ray.