The Trump administration has released more than 2,000 files on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The documents, totaling over 63,000 pages, are now available on the U.S. National Archives website.
President Donald Trump had previously announced the release during a visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, telling reporters that his administration would disclose a substantial number of assassination-related documents.
The move comes after he signed an executive order instructing the attorney general and director of national intelligence to devise a plan for the full release of any remaining JFK files. He also directed them to prepare similar plans for the release of records related to the 1968 assassinations of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
The release is part of a decades-long process initiated by the federal government in the early 1990s, requiring all assassination-related records to be housed in a dedicated collection at the National Archives.
While many documents had already been made available, some were withheld under national security exemptions. Trump had originally intended to release all remaining records in 2017 but postponed full disclosure, citing security concerns raised by intelligence agencies.
Over the years, various theories have surrounded the Kennedy assassination, with questions about the involvement of foreign governments, intelligence agencies, and potential conspiracies.
The newly released documents include previously classified memos, cables, and reports detailing Lee Harvey Oswald’s movements in the weeks leading up to the assassination. Among them are records of Oswald’s interactions with Soviet and Cuban officials while in Mexico City.
Reports indicate that he had visited the Soviet and Cuban embassies, seeking visas that would allow him to travel. One intercepted phone call from September 1963 suggests he had contact with a KGB officer at the Soviet Embassy.
The official account has long maintained that Oswald acted alone when he fired from the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas on November 22, 1963. He was arrested the same day but never faced trial, as nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot him two days later during a jail transfer.
The Warren Commission, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson, concluded in its 1964 report that there was no evidence of a conspiracy, though skepticism has persisted for decades.
Trump’s order has reignited interest in the case, with researchers and historians analyzing the documents for new details. The FBI recently discovered an additional 2,400 records linked to the case following a renewed search prompted by the executive order. These newly inventoried documents were previously unrecognized as relevant to the JFK files and are now part of the declassification process.
While the National Archives has stated that nearly all JFK-related records have now been released, researchers estimate that around 3,000 files remain undisclosed. Some documents, such as tax returns, are not subject to disclosure under existing regulations.
The release adds to the growing collection of information that sheds light on intelligence operations and geopolitical dynamics during the Cold War era.
Trump has made it clear that his goal was to achieve full transparency regarding the JFK assassination and that he opposed excessive redactions. During his announcement, he remarked that people had been waiting decades for this information and that the public deserved access to the full historical record.