Donald Trump releases files on Kennedy assassination – but why?

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Lerato Khumalo

Belief in conspiracy in the USA

Trump releases files on Kennedy assassination – but why?


Updated on 01/24/2025 – 01:18 amReading time: 3 minutes

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The then US President John F. Kennedy a few days before his death in November 1963: His nephew also spread conspiracy myths surrounding the assassination attempt. (Source: Tampa Bay Times)

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Donald Trump wants to publish the last secret files on the murder of John F. Kennedy. In doing so, he uses the distrust of many Americans towards the state for his own purposes.

US President Donald Trump has ordered plans to release still-secret files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights activist Martin Luther King. Trump ordered the intelligence coordinator and attorney general on Thursday to provide him with a plan within 15 days for the full release of documents related to President Kennedy’s death. In the case of Senators Kennedy and King, 45 days are allotted for this.

The murder of US President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, by several gunshots shocked the USA – and continues to fascinate the country to this day. 65 percent of people in the United States do not believe the official version that the shooter, Lee Harvey Oswald, acted alone.

Kennedy’s murder is still the basis for conspiracy stories according to which the USA is controlled by a “deep state” – secret networks within the state apparatus. For example, there is a widespread thesis that Kennedy’s successor Lyndon B. Johnson, in conjunction with the CIA secret service, pulled the strings in the assassination attempt. There are also frequent rumors about Cuba’s involvement in the attack.

The conspiracy stories surrounding the Kennedy murder were recently fueled by his nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He also spreads the assumption that the CIA was involved in the attack on his uncle. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to become Secretary of Health and Human Services in Donald Trump’s administration. Trump himself has repeatedly claimed that the “deep state” wants to prevent him from becoming US president.

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Kennedy’s shooter Lee Harvey Oswald (r.): He was shot in police custody just two days after the assassination attempt. (Source: JFK Collection)

If Trump now publishes the last secret files on the Kennedy murder case, he can present himself to his supporters as a fighter against secret machinations in the USA. Trump also wants to publish the remaining files on the assassination attempts on Robert F. Kennedy and the civil rights activist Martin Luther King in 1968. However, Trump left it open which documents exactly he wanted to publish – and there was no talk of a general opening of the secret inventory.

It is also questionable what new insights the previously kept secret documents can provide – the vast majority have already been published in recent years.

According to the US National Archives, the majority of the Kennedy assassination files have been publicly accessible since the 1990s. The archive has stored a total of around five million documents, photos, videos, audio recordings and artifacts in connection with the attack.

Trump had already promised during his first term to release the final secret files on the Kennedy assassination. In 2017, some of the documents that had previously been kept secret were made public – tens of thousands of documents in total. But then-President Trump decided – largely at the behest of the CIA and the FBI – to keep some files secret after those agencies raised security concerns.

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Trump’s successor Joe Biden had thousands more documents related to the Kennedy assassination published – but not all of them. According to US media reports, with the most recent publication in 2023, 99 percent of the documents are publicly accessible. The published documents are listed on the US National Archives website according to the year in which they were published.

The fact that not all documents relating to the Kennedy assassination are still public still fuels the suspicion that the US security authorities have something to hide in the case. However, research by the US magazine “Politico” from 2022 comes to different conclusions as to the motives behind the secrecy.

“Politico” reported on the previously secret correspondence between the US National Archives and representatives of the CIA and FBI. The magazine obtained the correspondence after it sued the archive for its release, citing the US Freedom of Information Act. According to Politico, correspondence between the authorities showed that the National Archives repeatedly pushed for the release of as many documents as possible, but met with resistance from the CIA and FBI.

According to the correspondence, the secret service and the federal police did not want to cover up their involvement in the Kennedy murder, but rather wanted to protect their employees. The CIA and FBI pushed to withhold documents that contained detailed information about employees who were still alive. The two authorities feared that former employees could be intimidated or even become victims of violence if their names and functions became public. Particular concern was for employees abroad who could not be protected by US authorities.