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, Trump’s 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 – the day 46-year-old John F. Kennedy (JFK) was assassinated.
On March 18, the Trump administration declassified 80,000 documents related to the death of the 35th 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.
“We have a tremendous amount of paper. You got a lot of reading. I don’t believe we’re going to redact anything,” Trump, 78, teased from the Kennedy Center on March 17. “They’ve been waiting for that for decades. And I said during the campaign I’d release them, and I’m a man of my word…so tomorrow you have the JFK files.”
Trump – who was 17 when Kennedy was killed – 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.
“President Trump is ushering in a new era of maximum transparency. …Per his direction, previously redacted JFK Assassination Files are being released to the public with no redactions,” Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said, according to the New York Post. “Promises made, promises kept.
Some files still locked up
Trump’s 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 – his administration even framed it that way – but some files are still locked up.
Yet, despite these grand declarations, the files didn’t 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 – 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 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.
The first bullet missed its target, while the second – called the “magic bullet theory” – 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 – shot within 8.6 seconds of the first – delivered the fatal blow to Kennedy’s 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 – it’s a generational mystery.
Many Americans believe Kennedy was killed as part of a conspiracy, rather than by a lone 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 – 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, “The CIA assassinated the sitting President JFK and they were never held accountable for it!” A second user insists, “The CIA killed JFK.”
A third online fan jumps on the alien idea: “It appears the reason why the JFK files weren’t released for all these years, was that they reveal US government awareness of UAPs/UFOs.”
‘You got played’
Others expressed their disappointed over the information that remains hidden, locked away under claims of national security concerns.
“Turns out the only thing uncovered in the JFK Files is what we already knew from the Warren commission,” notes one user.
“I was told repeatedly these were going to be unredacted…” a second said.
A third user tweets, ” You got played… again? How many more times?”
Other members of the online community pointed out that the release is the exact same shared by former President Joe Biden in 2023.
“Trump released the same JFK files that Biden released in 2023 lol. fell for it again award,” one user tweets along with side-by-side photos of the two releases, where Trump’s version shows the word “secret” crossed out.
“Biden released these unredacted. Biden 1 Trump 0,” a second shares, while another adds, “Literally the same files released by Biden.”
After all these years, the JFK assassination remains one of America’s greatest unsolved puzzles. While Trump’s document dump provided some new details, it ultimately didn’t bring us closer to the truth.
If you’d like to download the JFK Assassination Records, you can find them 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!
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