More than 60 years after the shocking assassination of the 35th president John F Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963, the U.S. government has released a significant set of classified documents. President Donald Trump authorised the release of over 1,100 files, containing approximately 31,000 pages, as part of an effort to bring transparency to the case. These JFK assassination files are highly anticipated by historians, researchers, and conspiracy theorists who have long sought to uncover the full truth behind the events of November 22, 1963.
Trump announced the release of the JFK files while visiting the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington. He highlighted that his government would be making around 80,000 pages public.
The National Archives stated that, following the president¡¯s orders, the release would include "all records that were previously kept secret for security reasons."
Although experts believe these documents may not drastically change the established timeline of the JFK assassination, they fuel ongoing debates. Many Americans still believe that the full truth about President John F Kennedy's death remains hidden. With these newly disclosed details, discussions about the assassination are set to intensify once again.
You can read the JFK files on the National Archives website here.
7:23 a.m. ¨C Lee Harvey Oswald arrives at the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas, carrying a long, paper-wrapped package. When questioned by a co-worker, Buell Wesley Frazier, Oswald claims it contains "curtains."
8:45 a.m. ¨C President John F Kennedy speaks at a breakfast event in Fort Worth, attended by members of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce.
9:10 a.m. ¨C Kennedy addresses a crowd in the grand ballroom of Hotel Texas. His security detail discusses whether the presidential limousine should have its bubbletop cover, opting to keep it open due to clear weather.
10:40 a.m. ¨C Kennedy¡¯s motorcade departs for Carswell Air Force Base.
11:20 a.m. ¨C Air Force One takes off for Dallas, Texas.
11:38 a.m. ¨C Air Force One lands at Love Field, Dallas. The Kennedys and Texas Governor John Connally are welcomed by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife.
11:55 a.m. ¨C The motorcade departs Love Field, heading towards downtown Dallas. Kennedy and his wife greet enthusiastic supporters along the 10-mile journey.
12:29 p.m. ¨C The motorcade makes a turn into Houston Street, entering Dealey Plaza.
12:30 p.m. ¨C The motorcade takes a sharp left onto Elm Street. As it passes the Texas School Book Depository, shots are fired at President John F Kennedy.
12:30 p.m. ¨C Witnesses report hearing three gunshots. The famous Zapruder film captures Kennedy¡¯s immediate reaction¡ªclutching his throat before being fatally struck in the head.
12:32 p.m. ¨C Secret Service Agent Clint Hill jumps onto the presidential limousine to shield First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
12:33 p.m. ¨C Oswald is seen leaving the Texas School Book Depository through the front entrance after being briefly confronted by a police officer.
12:36 p.m. ¨C President John F Kennedy arrives at Parkland Memorial Hospital, where doctors desperately attempt to save his life.
12:40 p.m. ¨C CBS News broadcasts the first national report about the shooting.
12:50 p.m. ¨C Air Force One is put on standby for departure back to Washington, D.C.
1:00 p.m. ¨C President John F Kennedy is officially pronounced dead. A Catholic priest administers last rites.
1:04 p.m. -Housekeeper Earlene Roberts reports that Lee Harvey Oswald departed the rooming house just a few minutes after arriving.?She last saw him standing at a bus stop outside the house.
1:15 p.m. -?Oswald shoots and kills Dallas Police Officer J.D. Tippit near the intersection of 10th Street and Patton Avenue, about 0.86 miles from the rooming house.?The murder weapon was a Smith & Wesson Victory Model .38 Special revolver.?Thirteen witnesses saw Oswald either shooting Tippit or fleeing the scene.?By that evening, five witnesses had identified Oswald in police lineups.
1:16 p.m. -?The first police report of Officer Tippit being shot is broadcasted.
1:26 p.m. -?Lyndon B. Johnson departs Parkland Memorial Hospital for Love Field.
1:30 p.m. -?Johnson arrives at Air Force One, accompanied by Secret Service agents and key officials, including:
1:33 p.m. -?White House Assistant Press Secretary Malcolm Kilduff announces at Parkland Memorial Hospital that President Kennedy is dead.
His statement:
"President John F. Kennedy died at approximately 1:00 p.m. CST today, here in Dallas. He died of a gunshot wound to the brain. I have no other details regarding the assassination of the president."
1:35 p.m. -?After killing Tippit, Oswald is seen traveling on foot toward the Texas Theatre on West Jefferson Boulevard.
Johnny Calvin Brewer, the Hardy¡¯s Shoe Store manager, notices Oswald acting suspiciously and entering the store¡¯s entranceway as police sirens approach.
Oswald leaves the store, and Brewer follows him, watching as he sneaks into the Texas Theatre without paying.
1:38 p.m. -?CBS Anchorman Walter Cronkite announces on live television that Kennedy is officially dead.
He confirms that Lyndon B. Johnson will be sworn in as the next President of the United States.
1:40 p.m. -?Johnson phones Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, offering condolences and asking where he should take the oath of office.
Johnny Brewer alerts Julie Postal, the ticket attendant at Texas Theatre, that Oswald is inside.
Postal calls the Dallas police.
1:45 p.m. -?15 police officers surround the Texas Theatre.
1:50 p.m. -?Johnson calls his friend Irving Goldberg, an attorney, and they decide to ask Judge Sarah T. Hughes to administer the oath of office.
Inside the theatre, police attempt to arrest Oswald, but he resists:
He punches an officer and attempts to shoot another.
Oswald shouts, "Well, it's all over now!" before being subdued.
1:51 p.m. -?Dallas Police report Oswald in custody.
2:00 p.m. -?Kennedy¡¯s body is removed from Parkland Hospital and taken to Air Force One at Love Field.
A heated confrontation occurs between:
Ken O¡¯Donnell (Kennedy¡¯s assistant) & Secret Service agents
Medical examiner Earl Rose & Texas authorities, who argue the removal violates state law, as an autopsy had not yet been conducted.
Despite objections, the body is placed on Air Force One.
2:05 p.m. -?Paraffin tests conducted on Oswald¡¯s hands confirm he had recently fired a gun.
2:10 p.m. -?Abraham Zapruder, who filmed the famous assassination footage, arrives at WFAA-TV in Dallas for an interview.
2:13 p.m. -?Dallas police discovered the rifle used to assassinate Kennedy on the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository.
2:30 p.m. -?Oswald is interrogated for almost 12 hours.
He denies involvement, claiming he is a "patsy."
When shown photographs of himself holding a rifle, he scoffs and claims the images are fake.
Eventually, he stops answering all questions.
2:38 p.m.: Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as president by federal judge Sarah Hughes aboard Air Force One.
2:47 p.m.: Air Force One departs Love Field for Washington, D.C.
7:05 p.m.: Lee Harvey Oswald is charged with "murder with malice" for the killing of police officer J.D. Tippit.
11:26 p.m.: Oswald is then charged with the murder of President Kennedy.
Saturday, November 23, 1963
Sunday, November 24, 1963
11:21 a.m.: Jack Ruby fatally shoots Lee Harvey Oswald in the basement of the Dallas Police headquarters, in front of live television cameras.
1:07 p.m.: Oswald is pronounced dead at Parkland Memorial Hospital, the same hospital where Kennedy had been treated.
Kennedy¡¯s coffin is carried on a horse-drawn caisson to the U.S. Capitol to lie in state. By evening, nearly 300,000 mourners line up over 9 miles, with a quarter million passing through the rotunda in 18 hours.
Monday, November 25, 1963
8:30 a.m.: Kennedy's casket is moved from the Rotunda to St. Matthew's Cathedral for a Requiem Mass led by Cardinal Richard Cushing.
Over 1,200 guests, including representatives from over 90 countries, attend the Mass.
After the service, Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, with burial rites concluding at 1:15 p.m.
2:00 p.m.: J.D. Tippit's funeral is held at Beckley Hills Baptist Church in Dallas. Over 700 uniformed policemen and 1,500 citizens attend. Tippit is buried at Laurel Land Memorial Park.
4:00 p.m.: Lee Harvey Oswald¡¯s funeral is held at Shannon Rose Hill Funeral Chapel in Fort Worth, Texas. Few attend besides his family, and seven newspaper reporters serve as pallbearers.
4:28 p.m.: Oswald¡¯s body is lowered into his grave, with the burial completed by sunset.
Events During the 1960s (1964 - 1969)
March 14, 1964: Jack Ruby is convicted of murder with malice and sentenced to death.
September 24, 1964: The Warren Commission presents its 888-page final report to President Johnson. It concludes that Oswald fired all three shots.
October 5, 1966: An appellate court overturns Ruby¡¯s conviction, ruling he should have been granted a change of venue.
January 3, 1967: Jack Ruby dies in prison from cancer.
March 1, 1967: New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison charges businessman Clay Shaw with conspiring to assassinate Kennedy.
January 29, 1969: Clay Shaw¡¯s trial begins in Orleans Parish Criminal Court.
March 1, 1969: A jury finds Clay Shaw not guilty in under an hour. This remains the only trial ever held regarding Kennedy¡¯s assassination.
Events After the 1960s (1975 - 2025)
March 6, 1975: The Zapruder film is broadcast on US network television for the first time by Robert Groden and Dick Gregory on Good Night America.
March 29, 1979: The House Select Committee on Assassinations states Kennedy was "probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy," citing mobsters Carlos Marcello and Santo Trafficante Jr.
1982: A National Academy of Sciences panel finds the HSCA's acoustic evidence "seriously flawed" and concludes it does not support additional gunshots.
December 20, 1991: Release of the film JFK.
October 26, 1992: President George H.W. Bush signs the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act, establishing the Assassination Records Review Board.
September 30, 1998: The Assassination Records Review Board submits its final report.
July 24, 2017: The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) begins releasing the remaining assassination documents.
December 15, 2022: NARA releases an additional 13,173 documents as ordered by President Biden.
September 9, 2023: Paul Landis, an 88-year-old former Secret Service agent, claims he retrieved a bullet from Kennedy¡¯s car and left it on the president¡¯s stretcher.
January 23, 2025: During his second term, President Donald Trump signs an executive order to declassify records related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.
In January, President Trump signed an order instructing national security agencies to prepare plans to release all government records related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy.
A White House statement explained that ¡°more than 50 years after these assassinations, the victims¡¯ families and the American people deserve the truth.¡± Trump ordered that documents related to Kennedy¡¯s assassination be released first, with those concerning King and Robert Kennedy to follow. However, officials have not provided a timeline for when the remaining files will be made public.
In 1992, Congress passed a law requiring the National Archives to collect all U.S. government records linked to Kennedy¡¯s assassination in one place.
This led to the creation of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection, which includes federal records along with materials from state and local law enforcement gathered during investigations.
Currently, the collection, stored in an archives facility in College Park, Maryland, contains over six million pages. The 80,000 pages now being released are only a small part of the entire collection.
With the release of the JFK assassination files by Donald Trump, researchers now have access to previously hidden details about one of the most controversial events in American history. While the official timeline of the JFK assassination remains largely unchanged, these newly available documents could shed light on unanswered questions surrounding President John F Kennedy¡¯s tragic death. As historians and experts analyse these files, the discussion over the true events of November 22, 1963, is expected to continue for years to come.