Donald Trump stirred up attention by releasing thousands of classified documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Many had expected explosive revelations, but the release has left people still searching for the truth that the president had previously promised.
For decades, the public has sought the truth about what happened on November 22, 1963—the day 46-year-old John F. Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated.
On March 18, the Trump administration declassified 80,000 documents related to JFK’s death, complying with the 1992 Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which initially set a deadline for full disclosure in 2017.
“We have a lot of papers. There’s a lot of reading ahead. I don’t believe we’re redacting anything,” Trump, 78, teased from the Kennedy Center on March 17. “They’ve been waiting for this for decades. I said I’d release them during my campaign, and I keep my promises… so tomorrow, you’ll get the JFK files.”
Trump—who was 17 when Kennedy was killed—had released thousands of documents in 2018, though some remained redacted due to national security concerns. Even President Biden followed suit, releasing 13,000 additional records in 2022.
“President Trump is bringing about a new era of maximum transparency. …Under his direction, previously redacted JFK Assassination Files are now being released to the public, fully unredacted,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said, according to the New York Post. “Promises made, promises kept.”
However, not all files are yet available.
Trump’s decision to release the files sparked anticipation, with his supporters seeing it as part of his push for government transparency—something his administration emphasized. But some documents remain under lock and key.
Despite grand promises, the documents didn’t bring the bombshell revelations many had hoped for. In fact, most of them seemed to confirm what the Warren Commission concluded back in 1964: that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he fired a high-powered rifle from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository, where the 24-year-old former marine had recently started working.
According to the report, three shots were fired at 12:30 PM as JFK’s car passed through Dealey Plaza in Dallas.
10 days before JFK was assassinated, he demanded the CIA to brief him on UFOs. pic.twitter.com/erXP5dAUAh
— BLAIRE WHITE (@MsBlaireWhite) March 19, 2025
The first shot missed, while the second—the so-called “magic bullet”—hit Kennedy in the back, exited through his throat, then injured Texas Governor John Connally, shattering his wrist and ending up in his thigh.
The third shot, fired within 8.6 seconds of the first, delivered the fatal blow to Kennedy’s head.
After allegedly fleeing and shooting a police officer in Dallas on the same day, Oswald was captured but was shot dead by nightclub owner Jack Ruby two days later before he could stand trial.
The search for a conspiracy behind JFK’s assassination has persisted for years.
Many Americans still believe Kennedy’s death was part of a larger conspiracy, rather than the act of a lone gunman. Theories have ranged from mafia involvement to revenge by Cuban exiles. One of the more outlandish theories even suggests the CIA orchestrated the shooting to prevent Kennedy from uncovering the truth about aliens.
The newly released files provided some new pieces of information, but they didn’t offer a smoking gun—nothing to confirm or debunk the theories that have persisted for decades.
For conspiracy theorists, the continued secrecy only adds fuel to the fire. Many took to social media to voice their thoughts.
One user tweeted, “The CIA assassinated President JFK and got away with it!” Another said, “The CIA killed JFK.”
A third speculated, “It looks like the JFK files weren’t released all these years because they reveal U.S. government knowledge of UAPs/UFOs.”
Others expressed disappointment over the information that remains concealed, citing national security concerns.
“Turns out the only thing uncovered in the JFK Files is what we already knew from the Warren Commission,” one user pointed out.
“I was told these files would be unredacted…” a second user said.
A third added, “You got played… again? How many more times?”
Other members of the online community noted that the release was identical to the one made by President Biden in 2023.
“Trump released the same JFK files that Biden released in 2023 lol. Fell for it again,” one user tweeted, sharing side-by-side images of both releases, with Trump’s version showing the word “secret” crossed out.
“Biden released these unredacted. Biden 1, Trump 0,” another user shared, while another remarked, “Literally the same files released by Biden.”
After all these years, the JFK assassination remains one of America’s greatest unsolved mysteries. While Trump’s document release shed some new light, it ultimately didn’t bring us any closer to the truth.
If you’d like to download the JFK Assassination Records, you can find them HERE. Let us know your thoughts on the files and share this story with your friends so we can hear their opinions too!