President Donald Trump on Thursday night said he would declassify government files related to alien life and unidentified flying objects, citing the “tremendous interest” in the topic, an announcement that came hours after Trump said he wasn’t sure if aliens were real.
“I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump had criticized one of his predecessors earlier Thursday for saying that aliens are “real,” claiming former president Barack Obama had revealed “classified information” by sharing his thoughts on extraterrestrial life.
For decades, many politicians sought to avoid discussing the possible existence of aliens or any government programs studying UFOs, worried that the subjects were taboo and politically damaging. But the topic has become mainstream in recent years after articles about secret federal programs that have studied unusual, seemingly inexplicable phenomena. Government agencies have released videos of aircraft that appeared to defy the laws of physics, prompting lawmakers to press for more information and ask whether there has ever been a coordinated cover-up.
Fifty-six percent of Americans believe that aliens exist, according to a November poll conducted by YouGov.
Obama said on a podcast last week that aliens are “real, but I haven’t seen them,” sparking widespread questions about whether the government was hiding the existence of extraterrestrials. “There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States,” he added.
Obama clarified a day later that he was simply performing cosmic math.
“Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” he wrote on Instagram. “But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One that Obama made a “big mistake” with his comments, although he did not specify what the former president said that was erroneous or violated rules on government secrecy.
“I don’t know if they’re real or not. I can tell you he gave classified information,” Trump said. “He’s not supposed to be doing that.”
Prompted by Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, Trump said Thursday afternoon that he might declassify the relevant files and “get [Obama] out of trouble.”
Asked whether Obama revealed classified information, the White House on Thursday referred to Trump’s comments on Air Force One.
Former president Bill Clinton has made similar comments, suggesting that alien life could exist but saying he had no firsthand knowledge of it. Clinton has also said he sent federal officials to check for alien life at Area 51 — a military base in Nevada that has been depicted in Hollywood productions as harboring alien technology and even alien beings — but the search turned up nothing unusual.
Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, said on a New York Post podcast this week that Trump has “played a little coy” when family members have asked him about the existence of aliens. She also suggested that he may have prepared a speech about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that the existence of a prepared speech on extraterrestrial life would be “news to me.”
Trump has faced scrutiny for his own handling of classified information, including a document describing a foreign government’s military defenses and other sensitive documents that were found at his Mar-a-Lago residence and private club in Florida while he was out of office.
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