Trump orders release of more assassination files: Why do these documents matter?

Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 46 by Lee Harvey Oswald

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the declassification and release of thousands of government documents related to the 1963 assassination of President John F Kennedy.

Speaking to reporters, Trump said, “Everything will be revealed".

Trump had promised during his reelection campaign to make public the last batches of still-classified documents surrounding  Kennedy's assassination in Dallas. The 1963 killing  is one of the most well-known conspiracy theories of modern times.

When will the files be released?

According to the order, the director of national intelligence and the attorney general must develop a plan within 15 days to declassify the remaining of Kennedy records. It was not clear when the records would be released.

What happened to Kennedy?

Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at the age of 46 by Lee Harvey Oswald. He was shot while riding in a car with his wife First Lady Jackie Onassis and Texas Governor John Connally during a tour of the state. Two days later, local nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot Oswald during a jail transfer.

An investigation led by Chief Justice Earl Warren concluded that Oswald, a former Marine and communist activist who had lived in the Soviet Union, acted alone in shooting Kennedy. However, the probe has been widely criticized by academics and historians in the nearly 60 years since the assassination.

What files have been released?

Under the President John F Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992, the government was required to release all documents by October 2017, unless doing so would harm national security. Trump released thousands of documents over the course of his first term but withheld others on national security grounds. In October 2021, Biden released nearly 1,500 more documents. However, according to reports, around 500 documents weren't subject to the 2017 disclosure requirement.

What does JFK’s grandson say?

JFK's grandson Jack Schlossberg slammed Trump's executive order, saying there was "nothing heroic" about it.

"The truth is a lot sadder than the myth - a tragedy that didn't need to happen. Not part of an inevitable grand scheme," he wrote on X. "Declassification is using JFK as a political prop, when he's not here to punch back."

Trump has nominated Kennedy’s nephew, Robert F Kennedy Jr., to be the health secretary in his new administration. Kennedy, whose father, Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated in 1968 while running for president and has said he isn’t convinced that a lone gunman was solely responsible for the assassination of his uncle, President Kennedy.

Significance of Trump’s order

Trump’s executive order marks the onset of his administration's promised governance of transparency and public access to sensitive governmental records. These files have been a subject of public demand for decades after several conspiracy theories and speculations arose regarding the death of the former US leaders.

The documents shed light on the details provided by the intelligence services operated at the time and include CIA cables and memos discussing visits by Oswald to the Soviet and Cuban embassies during a trip to Mexico City just weeks before the assassination, according to Hindustan Times.