Egypt Daily News – President Donald Trump announced to reporters that his administration is set to release 80,000 pages of previously unredacted JFK assassination files, calling the collection “interesting” while offering little insight into what new details, if any, might emerge.
“Tomorrow, we are releasing all of the Kennedy files, people have been waiting decades for this” Trump stated during a two-hour visit to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
“That’s going to be released tomorrow. We have a tremendous amount of paper. You’ve got a lot of reading. 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 stated.
Trump had previously spoken about releasing the JFK files during his first campaign and presidential term, though thousands of documents remained classified. In January, he signed an executive order to declassify the remaining files, and now he has confirmed that they will be released “tomorrow afternoon.”
When asked if he had personally reviewed the documents or would provide an executive summary, Trump responded, “I’ve heard about them. It’s going to be very interesting.” He emphasized the volume of the release, saying, “It’s a lot of stuff, and you’ll make your own determination.”
The content of the files remains uncertain, but speculation has grown that they could include details about a CIA operative named George Joannides. Joannides was stationed in Miami at the time and had funded a group of Cuban exiles that Lee Harvey Oswald attempted to infiltrate just weeks before assassinating President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963.
Reports earlier this year from Axios suggested that the FBI had discovered 2,400 additional documents that might provide new insights into the decades-old mystery surrounding Kennedy’s assassination.
During his visit to the Kennedy Center, Trump also took the opportunity to criticize the design of the building that commemorates John F. Kennedy, as well as some of the people who work there. As the newly self-appointed chairman of the center’s board, he made clear his displeasure with its current state.
“I never liked Hamilton very much,” Trump said, referring to the hit Broadway musical, which had its run at the Kennedy Center canceled amid artistic backlash following Trump’s controversial appointments to the board. “I never liked it, but we are going to have some really good shows. I would say this: come here and watch it, and you’ll see, over a period of time, it’ll improve very greatly physically. And we’re going to get some very good shows. The thing that does well are Broadway hits.”
It was Trump’s first public acknowledgment of the Kennedy Center since taking control of its board, and he admitted to reporters on Air Force One that he had never actually visited the venue before orchestrating the changes.
On Monday, he linked his criticism of the Kennedy Center to his broader political messaging. “We’ll bring it back. We’ll make it great again. But it is so much like what I’m witnessing in other places. We have open borders, we have men playing in women’s sports. It’s all the same thing. It’s all the same mentality and thinking. So I’m very disappointed when I look around,” Trump said.
He also described the Kennedy Center as being in a state of disrepair and took particular issue with its $250 million expansion project known as the REACH. The addition, which was meant to create more community-focused spaces, has hosted both high-profile events and informal public gatherings, such as outdoor picnics with beer and bratwurst.
“They spent a fortune, $250 million, and they built these rooms that nobody’s going to use, rooms underground. And I’ve often wondered, what are the big cubes that they have outside that block the view—the cubes with a door in them so that people can get down to rooms that nobody’s going to use. And it’s a shame. It’s a shame,” Trump said.
He also took aim at individuals working within the Kennedy Center, though he did not name anyone specifically. “The other thing is, I have a little problem with some people that work here,” he added.
Trump has installed former U.S. ambassador to Germany, Ric Grenell, to lead the board, along with other loyalists, including his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance. Reports suggest that Trump is seeking to exert more control over the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors, a long-running awards ceremony recognizing achievements in the performing arts. He has previously declined to attend the televised event.
With the release of the JFK assassination files now imminent, historians, journalists, and the public will be closely watching to see whether they provide any ground breaking revelations or simply contribute more material to the already extensive body of research surrounding Kennedy’s assassination.
