President Donald Trump announced that all remaining 80,000 pages of classified JFK assassination files will be released on Tuesday.
Describing the extensive collection as “interesting,” he provided little insight into its contents, keeping conspiracy theorists in suspense.
“We are tomorrow announcing and giving all of the Kennedy files… people have been waiting for decades for this,” Trump stated.
“That’s going to be released tomorrow. We have a tremendous amount of paper—there’s a lot of reading,” Trump stated.
He added, “I don’t believe we are going to redact anything. I said, just don’t redact. You can’t redact. But we’re going to be releasing the JFK files.”
Trump made the announcement during a two-hour visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
During his first term, he had spoken about releasing the JFK files, but thousands remained sealed. In January, he signed an executive order to declassify the remaining documents.
Trump confirmed they would be released “tomorrow afternoon.”
When asked if he had reviewed the files or would provide an executive summary, he responded, “I’ve heard about them. It’s going to be very interesting.”
He estimated that around 80,000 pages would be made public.
“It’s a lot of stuff, and you’ll make your own determination,” he said inside the Kennedy Center.
The details of what the newly released files might reveal remain unclear. However, they could include documents related to a CIA spy chief with a shadowy role in the events surrounding the assassination, as reported last month.
The CIA officer, based in Miami, was known to have funded a group of Cuban exiles that Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to infiltrate just weeks before he assassinated President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
In February, Axios reported that the FBI had uncovered 2,400 new documents that could shed fresh light on the long-standing mystery of JFK’s death.
According to Jefferson Morley, a leading expert on the assassination, the new files could contain information about George Joannides, who served as chief of covert action at the CIA’s Miami station in 1963.
Earlier Monday, Trump toured the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for two hours, where he criticized both the building’s design and the people who work there.
Flexing his influence after appointing himself chair of the cultural arts organization’s board, Trump arranged the visit and voiced his dislike for the painted steel columns, as well as a new modern addition designed to attract a broader audience and provide artists with expanded practice spaces.
“I never liked Hamilton very much,” Trump remarked about the Broadway hit, which canceled its run at the Kennedy Center following backlash over Trump’s restructuring of the board by replacing members with political loyalists.
President Donald Trump presides over a board meeting at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on March 17, 2025, in Washington, D.C. After avoiding the annual Kennedy Center Honors during his first term, Trump dismissed the center’s president, replaced the bipartisan board of Biden appointees, and appointed himself Chairman of the prestigious music, theater, and dance institution.
Seated alongside Trump are (L-R) Usha Vance, wife of Vice President JD Vance, Richard Grenell, President of The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, and Interim Vice Chair Jennifer Fischer.
Trump attended the board meeting while also preparing for a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential ceasefire in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The visit comes amid reports that Trump aims to take control of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors.
Headline: Trump Addresses the Media After Kennedy Center Board Meeting
U.S. President John F. Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, and others smile at the crowds along their motorcade route in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Minutes later, the President was assassinated as his car passed through Dealey Plaza.
“I never liked it, but we’re going to have some really great shows,” Trump said. “I would say this: come here and watch, and over time, you’ll see it improve physically. We’re going to get some very good shows. Broadway hits are what really do well.”
Trump had previously admitted that he had never visited the Kennedy Center, despite orchestrating a takeover and criticizing its programming.
On Monday, he linked his complaints about the center to his broader MAGA agenda to reshape the country.
“We’ll bring it back. We’ll make it great again. But it’s just like what I’m seeing in other places. We have open borders, men playing in women’s sports. It’s all the same thing, the same mentality and thinking. So I’m very disappointed when I look around,” Trump said.
Trump described the Kennedy Center, located on the Potomac River, as being in disrepair. One feature he doesn’t like is the $250 million addition, the REACH. The space has hosted elegant parties, as well as public outdoor beer and bratwurst picnics, designed to attract a broader audience beyond just opera-loving elites.
“They spent a fortune, $250 million, building rooms that nobody’s going to use—rooms underground. I’ve often wondered, what are those big cubes outside blocking the view? The cubes with doors that lead to rooms no one will use. And it’s a shame. It’s a shame,” Trump remarked.
Trump also expressed dissatisfaction with some of the people working at the Kennedy Center.
He has appointed former U.S. Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell to lead the group and placed loyalists, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance’s wife, Usha Vance, on the board.
Trump revealed that country singer Lee Greenwood had wanted to perform for the group on Monday but was deterred by the high costs involved.
“And because of the cost and the union structure, for him to sing just one song for the board—just for the board meeting—it was going to cost $30,000. They wanted $30,000 just to move a piano. You can’t have that. We’re going to fix it up,” Trump claimed.
The New York Times reported over the weekend that Trump is seeking more influence over who receives the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors. He has not attended the televised ceremonies in the past.
