President-elect Donald Trump pledged Sunday to release a trove of long-hidden government files on the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Billing it as an effort to ramp up government transparency, Trump, 78, promised to take action directing those disclosures within “the coming days” during remarks at his blockbuster victory rally in Washington, DC.
“As the first step toward restoring transparency and accountability to government, we will also reverse the over-classification of government documents,” Trump promised his supporters packed into the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena.
“And in the coming days, we are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” Trump added, drawing some of the loudest applause of the night.
President John F. Kennedy was killed on a visit to Dallas. REUTERS
During his first administration, Trump had taken a hard look at releasing the JFK files, in keeping with the 1992 Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which set a 2017 deadline to release the remaining files.
However, he faced stiff pushback from national security luminaries such as his former CIA director Mike Pompeo — who later became secretary of state.
Due to that resistance, Trump released a tranche of files and then postponed the full release to October 2021. President Biden took a similar approach.
Well over 95% of the CIA’s records pertaining to the JFK assassination have been released thus far, CNN previously reported. Kennedy was killed on Nov. 22, 1963.
Robert F. Kennedy was murdered on the campaign trail in Los Angeles. AP
Prior investigations by the government have concluded that assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted on his own when he shot the former president in the head. Still, there are many skeptics of that conclusion and questions that remain unanswered.
But on the campaign trail, Trump had indicated he planned to follow through and release everything still under lock and key on JFK. During his Sunday victory rally, Trump clarified that he will go even further by releasing outstanding government documentation on RFK and MLK.
Under the Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act, the remaining files on the civil rights icon are not due for release until 2027. Trump didn’t delve into details about whether he would speed that up.
His remarks come one day before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which coincides with the incoming president’s inauguration. The feds, including the FBI, had conducted surveillance on the Baptist minister who crusaded against Jim Crow laws, but not all of those details are publicly known.
King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968. RFK was assassinated on June 6, 1968.
Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968. AP
Trump has tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nephew of the 35th president, to serve as his secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The Kennedy scion, who has Trump’s ear, has long been a staunch proponent of releasing those remaining files. Trump had pledged to release the JFK files during an Arizona rally in August in which he rolled out the younger Kennedy’s endorsement.
In contrast to his first administration, Trump has been inclined to staff his new team with individuals outside the traditional political establishment.
During his victory rally, Trump teased plans to hit the ground running and sign a slew of executive orders on his first day Monday, reforming areas such as border security, energy policy, regulations and more.
The Sunday event marks Trump’s first major rally of its kind in Washington, DC, since his Nov. 5, 2024, election victory.
