The Trump administration has declassified a collection of documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy (JFK), shedding new light on one of the most scrutinized events in American history.
JFK, the 35th U.S. president, was assassinated on November 22, 1963, while visiting Dallas, Texas—just under three years into his presidency.
For six decades, conspiracy theories have surrounded his murder, with many insisting that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone, despite FBI findings.
In an effort to finally answer lingering questions, President Donald Trump’s administration announced on Tuesday (March 18) that the last of the classified government files had been made public.
According to USA Today, thousands of pages of previously restricted records are now accessible to the public.
However, historians have urged caution, stating they need time to examine the files thoroughly to determine whether they contain any truly new revelations or if they largely mirror previous releases.
“You’ve got a lot of reading,” Trump, 78, told reporters on Monday (March 17) during a visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “I don’t believe we’re going to redact anything.”
However, according to the BBC, some of the newly unsealed files still contain redactions, and others are difficult to read due to poor scanning and fading.
While experts continue analyzing the material, several notable details have already emerged—offering fresh insights into the fourth presidential assassination in U.S. history.
Why Were the JFK Files Declassified?
According to the National Archives and Records Administration, the vast majority of JFK assassination records had already been made public.
However, some pages had been withheld due to concerns they could “harm national security.”
Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order to release the remaining classified documents, fulfilling his campaign promise to increase transparency surrounding JFK’s murder, according to Reuters.
As a result, around 2,200 new documents are now available, with historian Jefferson Morley—vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation—calling the release an “encouraging start.”
Previously, Trump had stated that approximately 80,000 pages would be declassified.
JFK’s Killer Labeled a ‘Poor Shot’
Lee Harvey Oswald, positioned in a sixth-floor window of the Texas School Book Depository, was 24 years old when he fired the shots that killed Kennedy.
After assassinating the president, Oswald fled through Dealey Plaza and later murdered police officer J.D. Tippit before being arrested in a local movie theater.
According to The Express, the declassified documents suggest Oswald was being monitored by the KGB and had a “stormy relationship” with his wife, Marina Nikolayevna Prusakova.
One document states: “Oswald had a stormy relationship with his Soviet wife, who rode him incessantly.”
Another file describes him as a “poor shot” during firearms training in the Soviet Union.
British Embassy Received a Warning About Oswald
Among the released records is a letter sent to the British Embassy by a man named Sergyj Czornonoh, who claimed he had warned officials in London about Oswald’s plans to assassinate Kennedy.
The document suggests that in July 1963, Czornonoh informed American Vice Consul Tom Blackshear that Oswald had defected to the Soviet Union and was planning to kill the president.
Despite these warnings, the CIA did not take action against Oswald or increase surveillance on him upon his return to the U.S.
Jack Ruby’s Alleged Ties to Organized Crime
On November 24, 1963, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Oswald on live television, just two days after Kennedy’s assassination.
Ruby’s conviction and death sentence were later overturned, and he was set to receive a new trial—but he died from pulmonary embolism on January 3, 1967, following a cancer diagnosis.
The newly released files suggest Ruby had connections to racketeering and illegal gambling, raising suspicions that he may have been ordered to silence Oswald.
“For some, he’s the Rosetta Stone of the JFK conspiracy,” said Stephen Fagin, curator at the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas. “For others, he’s just a man who acted on impulse to avenge Kennedy.”
Oswald Wasn’t Under KGB Control
One persistent theory is that Oswald was acting under the direct influence of the KGB. However, the newly released files challenge that notion.
A document recounts how E.B. Smith, an American professor, told a CIA agent in St. Petersburg about a KGB official known as “Slava” Nikonov.
The document states: “Nikonov is now confident that Oswald was at no time an agent controlled by the KGB.”
Are These Documents Really New?
One of the biggest takeaways from the declassified files is that much of the information has already been made public.
In 2023, former President Joe Biden declassified 17,000 documents, many of which contained similar information.
Critics and conspiracy theorists have taken to social media to voice their skepticism.
“The JFK Files contain REDACTED versions of files that have already been released un-redacted,” one user wrote. “Just like with the Epstein Files. We’ve been played.”
Another added: “WOW! Did Trump really just release all of the same JFK files that Biden released in 2023?”
Journalist Ed Krassenstein also weighed in, stating: “The only difference? The top of Biden’s says ‘2023 Release,’ and Trump’s says ‘2025 Release’—with the word ‘Secret’ simply crossed out.”
While the Trump administration’s release of the JFK files was meant to bring clarity to the case, the reality is that many of the details were already public.
For those seeking groundbreaking revelations, the files may not provide the smoking gun they had hoped for. However, as historians and researchers continue to comb through the documents, there may still be hidden details waiting to be uncovered.
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