Donald Trump made waves by releasing thousands of classified files related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. While many anticipated explosive revelations, Trumpโs document dump has left many people still searching for the truth that the president earlier promised.
For decades, people have been chasing the truth about what really happened on November 22, 1963 โ the day 46-year-old John F. Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated.
On March 18, theย Trumpย administration declassified 80,000 documents related to the death of the 35thย President of the United States. This move came in compliance with the 1992 Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which had set an original 2017 deadline for full disclosure.
โWe have a tremendous amount of paper. You got a lot of reading. I donโt believe weโre going to redact anything,โ Trump, 78,ย teasedย from the Kennedy Center on March 17. โTheyโve been waiting for that for decades. And I said during the campaign Iโd release them, and Iโm a man of my wordโฆso tomorrow you have the JFK files.โ
Trump โ who was 17 when Kennedy was killed โ had previously released thousands of documents in 2018, though certain files remained redacted due to national security concerns. Even President Biden followed a similar path, unveiling 13,000 more records in 2022.
โPresident Trump is ushering in a new era of maximum transparency. โฆPer his direction, previously redactedย JFK Assassination Filesย are being released to the public with no redactions,โ Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said, according to theย New York Post. โPromises made, promises kept.
Some files still locked up
Trumpโs decision to release these documents was met with a lot of anticipation and his supporters saw it as part of his commitment to government transparency โ his administration even framed it that way โ but some files are still locked up.
Yet, despite these grand declarations, the files didnโt bring closure for those expecting earth-shattering revelations, the reality was far less dramatic. Most of the documents seemed to reaffirm what the Warren Commission had already concluded back in 1964 โ that Lee Harvey Oswaldย acted aloneย when he fired a high-powered rifle from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, where the 24-year-old former marine recently started working.
According to the report, three shots were fired at 12.30 pm asย JFKโsย car passed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas.
The first bullet missed its target, while the second โ called the โmagic bullet theoryโ โ hit the president in the back, exited through his throat, then injured Texas governor John Connally, shattering his wrist and ending up in his thigh.
The third bullet โ shot within 8.6 seconds of the first โ delivered the fatal blow to Kennedyโs head.
After allegedly fleeing and shooting another police officer in Dallas on the same day, Oswald was apprehended but was shot dead by 53-year-old nightclub owner Jack Ruby two days later before he could stand trial.
Hunt for a Conspiracy
The Kennedy assassination has never been just another historical event โ itโs a generational mystery.
Many Americans believe Kennedy was killed as part of a conspiracy, rather than by a loneย gunman. Theories have ranged from mob involvement to Cuban exiles seeking revenge. One of the most bizarre is that the CIA directed the shooting to prevent the president from uncovering the truth about aliens.
The newly released documents offered fragments of new information, but beyond some small insights, the files offered no smoking gun โ nothing to confirm or disprove the many theories that have endured for decades.
For conspiracy theorists, the continued secrecy only fuels further speculation and many were excited to share their opinions online.
One netizen tweets, โThe CIA assassinated the sitting President JFK and they were never held accountable for it!โ A second user insists, โThe CIA killed JFK.โ
A thirdย online fanย jumps on the alien idea: โIt appears the reason why the JFK files werenโt released for all these years, was that they reveal US government awareness of UAPs/UFOs.โ
โYou got playedโ
Others expressed their disappointed over the information that remains hidden, locked away under claims of national security concerns.
โTurns out the only thing uncovered in the JFK Files is what we already knew from the Warren commission,โย notesย one user.
โI was told repeatedly these were going to be unredactedโฆโ aย secondย said.
A third user tweets, โ You got playedโฆ again? How many more times?โ
Other members of the online community pointed out that the release is the exact same shared by formerย Presidentย Joe Biden in 2023.
โTrump released the same JFK files that Biden released in 2023 lol. fell for it again award,โ one userย tweetsย along with side-by-side photos of the two releases, where Trumpโs version shows the word โsecretโ crossed out.
โBiden released these unredacted. Biden 1 Trump 0,โ aย secondย shares, while another adds, โLiterally the same files released by Biden.โ
After all these years, the JFK assassination remains one of Americaโs greatest unsolved puzzles. While Trumpโs document dump provided some new details, it ultimately didnโt bring us closer to the truth.
If youโd like to download the JFK Assassination Records, you can find themย HERE. Please let us know what you think of the files and then share this story with your friends so we can hear from them!
