World
India
JFK Files Release Date: US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that his administration will release approximately 80,000 pages of classified files related to the 1963 assassination of former President John F. Kennedy. The release is set to take place on Tuesday, marking a significant moment in the decades-long quest for transparency regarding Kennedy’s death.
Kennedy’s assassination
“People have been waiting for decades for this,” Trump told reporters during a visit to The Kennedy Center in Washington. “It’s going to be very interesting.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) revealed in early February that it had uncovered thousands of new documents pertaining to Kennedy’s assassination. Trump had signed an order during his first week in office to facilitate the release, extending his promise to include documents related to the assassinations of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy, both of whom were killed in 1968.
JFK Files: Trump’s First Visit to the Kennedy Center as Chairman
Trump made the announcement while visiting the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he took a tour and chaired a board of directors meeting. It was his first visit to the renowned arts institution since restructuring its leadership at the start of his second term.
Earlier, Trump had dismissed the previous board, stating on social media that they “do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.” He replaced them with loyalists, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President J.D. Vance. Trump himself assumed the role of chairman.
His allies have long criticized the Kennedy Center’s programming, arguing that it had become too liberal and “woke.”
JFK Files: Plans for Artistic Programming and Broadway Productions
Speaking to reporters before the board meeting, Trump voiced concerns about the condition of the Kennedy Center, citing “tremendous disrepair.”
“The center represents a very important part of D.C. and actually our country,” he said, adding that he plans to “improve very greatly” both the venue and its artistic programming.
Trump also discussed future artistic plans, indicating a preference for commercial success.
“We are going to have some really good shows,” he stated. “The thing that does well are Broadway hits.”
Notably, several artists and productions—including the critically acclaimed Broadway musical Hamilton—have refused to perform at the Kennedy Center in protest against Trump’s leadership.
“I was never a big fan, I never liked Hamilton very much,” he remarked.
Trump further criticized the high costs associated with the center’s operations, citing an instance where musician Lee Greenwood wanted to perform at Monday’s meeting but was deterred by the $30,000 cost to “move a piano.”
What Could the JFK Documents Reveal?
While some classified files may have only a minor connection to the assassination, others are thought to hold crucial investigative details. According to Politico, some of these documents come from the FBI’s primary case files on Kennedy’s murder.
Among the most significant are records concerning Lee Harvey Oswald, Kennedy’s assassin, and Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who fatally shot Oswald two days later.
Jefferson Morley, vice president of the Mary Ferrell Foundation, suggests that the files could expose a covert CIA operation tied to Cuba that involved Oswald just months before he assassinated Kennedy. The Daily Mail has even speculated that these records might contain the long-sought “smoking gun” linking Oswald directly to the CIA.
Also Read: Trump Says Pardons By ‘Sleepy Joe Biden’ To January 6 Committee Members Are ‘Void’
