Trump orders plan to release documents on JFK, Martin Luther King Jr assassinations; Why it is significant?

US President Donald Trump has directed officials to prepare for the declassification of documents tied to three of the most significant assassinations in American history: the murders of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.

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"A lot of people are waiting for this for long, for years, for decades," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. "And everything will be revealed."
The directive instructs senior administration officials to develop a plan within 15 days to declassify the documents.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963, while his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, was killed in California in 1968 during his presidential campaign, just two months after Martin Luther King Jr., the renowned civil rights leader, was fatally shot in Memphis, Tennessee.

Over the years, many documents related to these investigations have been made public, though thousands remain partially redacted, particularly those connected to the extensive JFK inquiry.

Interestingly, Trump’s decision follows his reelection campaign pledge to disclose the remaining classified files related to President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas—an event that has captivated public interest for decades. This executive order, one of several issued in recent weeks, carries both significant historical value and underscores the administration's commitment to transparency and granting public access to sensitive government documents.

The release of these long-classified records has been a matter of public interest for years, fueled by numerous conspiracy theories and widespread speculation surrounding the deaths of the former US leaders.

The documents provide insights into intelligence reports from that era, including CIA cables and memos detailing Lee Harvey Oswald's visits to the Soviet and Cuban embassies in Mexico City, just weeks prior to the assassination.

Over the years, opinion polls have consistently shown that most Americans doubt Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination.

In 1992, Congress enacted legislation mandating the release of all documents related to the investigation within 25 years. While both Trump during his first term and President Joe Biden made thousands of JFK-related files public, a significant number—out of millions—remain either partially redacted or entirely classified.

Although Trump pledged to declassify the files during his first term fully, he refrained from doing so after the CIA and FBI convinced him to withhold certain documents. The new executive order emphasizes that maintaining secrecy "is not consistent with the public interest."

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