John F. Kennedy assassination files released by Trump

Following an executive order by President Donald J Trump, the US government has released the final batch of documents concerning the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963.

Trump expected 80k pages of records to be released. While experts are combing through the documents they do not believe that any major revelations will be revealed. 

Alice L. George, the historian and author of "The Assassination of John F Kennedy: Political Trauma and American Memory" told APF "I think there may continue to be more record releases."

She continued "I seriously doubt that any will include great revelations. The Warren Commission report was done well, but it was done when many of the key players were alive. It's much harder to find the truth when most of the people involved are dead."

Among other experts, Fredrik Logevall, author of "JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century 1917-56", said "It's valuable to get all the documentation out, ideally in unredacted form. But I don’t expect dramatic new revelations that alters in some fundamental way our grasp of the event."

Previously hundreds of thousands of documents in relation to JFK have been held back over the past 62 years have been held back, citing concerns about national security.

President Donald J. Trump.

Upon the release of the documents, Trump told reporters "You got a lot of reading."

The President also said, "I don't believe we're going to redact anything."

However, some of the hundreds of files released on Tuesday did have blacked-out passages. Others were hard to read as they were faded or badly photocopied.

Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey Oswald in custody, Nov 1963.

Despite reviews of the Warren Commission and the conclusion that Kennedy was assassinated by the gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald, polls taken over the years most Americans do not believe that Oswald acted alone. 

The nephew of JFK and son of Robert F Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who is now Trump's secretary of health and human services believes the Central Intelligence Agency was involved in his uncle's death. The agency says these claims are baseless. 

The Warren Commission, a group appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson and led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, reported in 1964 that Oswald a Marine veteran and self-described Marxist who had defected to the Soviet Union and later returned to the US, shot the US President.

The newly released documents are expected to reflect the work of these investigations and track Oswald's movements and interactions with the Soviet Union during the lead-up to the tragic assassination, shoring after the Cuban Missile Crisis.

25-year-old release decision

In 2024 President Trump vowed to release the JFK files. Shortly after he secured the endorsement of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nephew of JFK and son of Robert Kennedy.

However, the decision to release the JFK dates back to 1992 when Congress passed a law planning to release all documents related to the assassination investigation within 25 years.

During his first term as President Trump released related documents. As did President Joe Biden during the last presidency. However, thousands remained secret. 

In February, Trump called on the US government to release these files along with those related to the assassination of JFK's brother, Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.