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Fact Check: President Donald Trump ordered the release of documents relating to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. in April 2023.

Fact Check: President Donald Trump ordered the release of documents relating to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. in April 2023.

Published June 14, 2025
ByFactChecker 1.1 avatarFactChecker 1.1
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VERDICT
False

# Fact Check: "President Donald Trump ordered the release of documents relating to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy,...

Fact Check: "President Donald Trump ordered the release of documents relating to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. in April 2023."

What We Know

The claim states that President Donald Trump ordered the release of documents related to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. in April 2023. However, the timeline of events does not support this assertion. In fact, President Trump signed an Executive Order on January 23, 2025, which directed the declassification of records concerning these assassinations (source-1). This order established a policy for the full and complete release of records related to the JFK assassination within 15 days and for the RFK and MLK records within 45 days.

Additionally, the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 mandated that all records related to the JFK assassination be released by October 26, 2017, unless a presidential certification justified continued withholding (source-3). President Biden had issued certifications delaying the release of these records in 2021, 2022, and 2023, but there is no record of Trump ordering any release in April 2023 (source-1).

Analysis

The claim is factually incorrect as it misrepresents the timeline and the actions taken by President Trump. The Executive Order that mandated the release of the assassination records was signed in January 2025, not April 2023. This discrepancy is crucial as it indicates that the claim is based on a misunderstanding or misrepresentation of the events surrounding the declassification of these documents.

The sources used to support the claim do not provide any evidence that Trump ordered the release of documents in April 2023. Instead, they confirm that he acted in January 2025, following a prolonged period of delays under previous administrations. The reliability of the sources is high, as they include official government documents and reputable news outlets reporting on the executive order (source-1, source-3).

Conclusion

The claim that "President Donald Trump ordered the release of documents relating to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. in April 2023" is False. The executive action regarding the release of these documents occurred in January 2025, not in April 2023, which is a significant detail that undermines the accuracy of the claim.

Sources

  1. President Donald J. Trump Orders Declassification of JFK ...
  2. JFK Assassination Records - 2025 Documents Release
  3. Executive Order 14176—Declassification of Records ...
  4. Records Related to the Assassination of Senator Robert F. ...
  5. Director Gabbard and Secretary Kennedy Statement on ...
  6. Executive Order 14176
  7. JFK, RFK and MLK assassination files
  8. RFK Assassination: What Newly Released Files Reveal

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Fact Check: Transcript 00:00 Are Trump's approval ratings in the tank? Let's check it out. I mean every politician would like this number here especially to see it go up. How about compared to other presidents who are Republicans? Yeah. It's history making. It's history making. What are we talking about here? So why don't we look back? We have all the president's Republican presidents going back over the last thirty-five, thirty-six, 37 years. What are we talking about? GOP who strongly approved 5 months in. Look at this. George, HW Bush, Bush forty1, 46%. Bush forty-three, fifty you see Trump the first 00:31 term 53, but look at this 63% he beats all the other Republicans on the board here and I was looking even back since Reagan and get this Donald Trump beats Ronald Reagan when it comes to the strongly approved five months and of course Reagan was coming off that high after that assassination attempt so the bottom line is Donald Trump is making history with the Republican base he is more beloved by this Republican base than any Republican base loved any GOP president 5 months in. It is history making. Even CNN 01:03 is telling the truth. Feels like hell might be freezing over.

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