Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Orders Declassification of JFK, RFK, and MLK Assassination Files

Fact Sheets

TLDR

This executive order promises to release remaining classified documents about the JFK, RFK, and MLK assassinations, but primarily repackages existing disclosure requirements while creating new bureaucratic processes rather than immediate release, with most relevant documents (97%) already public through previous declassification efforts.

This is a “fact sheet” about the “Declassification Of Records Concerning The Assassinations Of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, And The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” exeutive order.

The fact sheet presents a misleading narrative about Trump’s commitment to transparency. During his first term, Trump actually withheld documents after initially promising full disclosure, bending to appeals from the CIA and FBI to keep certain documents classified. The claim of “ending endless delays” is contradicted by his own actions in 2017.

The fact sheet omits crucial context about existing disclosures:

  • 97% of the roughly 5 million pages related to JFK’s assassination are already public
  • The CIA has released 95% of its collection with no documents remaining entirely redacted
  • Only about 4,700 documents remain classified

Legal Framework Issues:

  • While the fact sheet criticizes Biden’s delays, it fails to mention that Trump himself postponed disclosures in 2017 and 2018
  • The 1992 JFK Records Act already mandated full disclosure by 2017, making this executive order largely redundant

Implementation Challenges:

  • The order doesn’t immediately release any documents, instead only requiring plans for release within 15-45 days
  • No specific timeline is provided for when the public will actually see these documents

The fact sheet’s inclusion of RFK and MLK assassination records appears politically motivated:

  • No previous law required the release of these records
  • The timing coincides with Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr. for HHS Secretary
  • The executive order goes beyond the scope of the original JFK Records Act without clear justification for combining these separate historical events

This executive order appears more focused on political messaging than substantive transparency, given that:

  1. Most relevant documents are already public
  2. Similar promises were made and broken during Trump’s first term
  3. The order creates new bureaucratic processes rather than immediate disclosure
  4. It combines unrelated assassinations without clear historical or legal justification

The fact sheet’s portrayal of this as a breakthrough in government transparency overlooks the extensive releases that have already occurred and the previous administration’s own role in maintaining secrecy.

PROVIDING AMERICANS THE TRUTH AFTER SIX DECADES OF SECRECY: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order entitled Declassification of Records Concerning the Assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

  • The Executive Order establishes the policy that, more than 50 years after these assassinations, the victims’ families and the American people deserve the truth.

  • Specifically, the Order directs the Director of National Intelligence and other appropriate officials to:

    • (1) Present a plan within 15 days for the full and complete release of all John F. Kennedy assassination records; and

    • (2) Immediately review the records relating to the Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassinations and present a plan for their full and complete release within 45 days.

PRESIDENT TRUMP IS ENDING THE ENDLESS DELAYS: In his first term, President Trump ordered agencies to move toward disclosing more information about the John F. Kennedy assassination, and now he is ordering that the work be completed.

  • The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 required all records related to the assassination be released in 25 years, absent a presidential certification that:

    • Continued postponement is necessary due to an identifiable harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or conduct of foreign relations; and

    • Such identifiable harm is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in disclosure.

  • In October 2017 and April 2018 certifications, President Trump directed agencies to reevaluate redactions and disclose any information that no longer warranted withholding.

    • President Biden delayed disclosure in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

  • In this Order, President Trump finds that continued withholding of the John F. Kennedy records is not in the public interest and is long overdue. He also concludes that releasing the Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. assassination records is in the public interest.

PRESIDENT TRUMP DELIVERS ON PROMISE TO RELEASE ASSASSINATION RECORDS: President Trump promised during his campaign to release assassination records to give Americans the truth.

  • President Trump pledged on multiple occasions to release the JFK files, specifically stating in June 2024 that he would do so “early on.”
  • President Trump: “When I return to the White House, I will declassify and unseal all JFK assassination related documents. It’s been 60 years, time for the American people to know the TRUTH!”