JFK's grandson slams Donald Trump over release of assassination records

Former U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order demanding the declassification of files related to the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, a move that has drawn criticism from the Kennedy family. The executive order aims to release thousands of classified government documents concerning President Kennedy's 1963 assassination, an event that has been the focus of various conspiracy theories for years. Additionally, the order includes the declassification of federal records related to the assassinations of Senator Robert F. Kennedy and Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. This is one of a series of swift executive actions taken by Trump in the first week of his second term.

Trump stated in a declaration, "Everything will be revealed." However, John F. Kennedy's grandson, Jack Schlossberg, publicly criticized Trump's action on social media platform X. Schlossberg wrote, "The truth is far sadder than the rumors. It was a tragedy that should not have happened, not some grand conspiracy." He believes that declassifying these documents is using the late former president "as a political tool, and he cannot fight back." Schlossberg further added, "There is nothing heroic about this."

Trump had promised during his re-election campaign to release the last batches of still-classified documents related to President Kennedy's assassination. He had made similar promises during his first term but ultimately yielded to requests from the CIA and FBI to keep some documents confidential. Although documents have been continuously released under former President Joe Biden, some remain undisclosed. Notably, Trump has nominated Kennedy's nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to be his new administration's Secretary of Health. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has stated that he does not believe a single gunman was responsible for President Kennedy's assassination.

The executive order directs the Director of National Intelligence and the Attorney General to develop a plan within 15 days to declassify the remaining John F. Kennedy-related records, and within 45 days to declassify records from the other two cases. However, it is currently unclear when these records will actually be released. Trump handed the pen used to sign the order to an aide, instructing it be given to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Currently, only a few thousand out of the millions of government records related to President Kennedy's assassination have not been fully declassified. Although many who have studied the released documents say the public should not expect any earth-shattering revelations, there is still a strong interest in the details surrounding the assassination and related events.

Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics and author of "The Kennedy Half Century," stated, "There is always the possibility that some small detail will emerge, which will be the clue that reveals a larger iceberg. That is what researchers are looking for. While the chances of finding it are small, it does exist." Kennedy was shot in downtown Dallas on November 22, 1963, as his motorcade passed the Texas School Book Depository, where 24-year-old assassin Lee Harvey Oswald fired at him from a sixth-floor sniper position. Two days after Kennedy's assassination, nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot Oswald during his transfer. In the early 1990s, the federal government stipulated that all documents related to the assassination must be kept in a single archive at the National Archives and Records Administration. This archive, containing more than 5 million records, was required to be made public by 2017 unless a presidential exemption was specified. Sabato stated that most researchers believe that approximately 3,000 records have not been fully or partially released, many of which are from the CIA.