Trump directs U.S. government to declassify UFO and alien documents

U.S. president, Donald Trump said on Thursday, February 19, he is directing federal agencies to begin “identifying and releasing” government files related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life, responding to long-standing public interest in the subject.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “Based on the tremendous interest shown, 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).

He added that the files should include “any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.” Trump did not specify whether classified documents would be made fully public.

Earlier in the day, the Republican president criticised remarks made by his Democratic predecessor, Barack Obama, during a recent podcast appearance.

“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them and they’re not being kept in… Area 51,” Obama told host Brian Tyler Cohen, referencing the highly secretive US military facility in Nevada that has long been associated with UFO conspiracy theories.

“There’s no underground facility. Unless, there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”

Asked about the comments on Thursday, Trump told reporters that Obama “gave classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that.” The president did not clarify which part of Obama’s remarks he believed to be classified, but said, “he made a big mistake.”

When questioned about his own views on extraterrestrial life, Trump, 79, said: “I don’t know if they are real or not.” To date, no verified evidence has been produced confirming intelligent life beyond Earth.

Public interest in UFOs, now more formally referred to by US authorities as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), has grown in recent years amid Pentagon investigations into unexplained sightings. Some officials have raised concerns that certain incidents could involve advanced technologies developed by foreign adversaries.

In March 2024, the United States Department of Defense released a report stating it had found no proof that UAP represented alien technology, concluding that many cases were likely attributable to weather balloons, surveillance aircraft, satellites and other conventional explanations.

The directive signals a renewed political focus on transparency around decades of government records tied to UFO investigations.