Former US President Donald Trump has announced he will direct the Department of Defense and other agencies to release government files concerning aliens, extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The announcement came after his predecessor, Barack Obama, went viral last week for suggesting that aliens are 'real'.
In a post on his social media platform, Trump stated he will ask the defence secretary and others to begin identifying and releasing related records. The move follows Obama's interview with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, where Obama said, 'They're real, but I haven't seen them,' and dismissed the idea of a secret facility at Area 51.
Speaking aboard Air Force One, Trump accused Obama of disclosing 'classified information', adding, 'I may get him out of trouble by declassifying.' Trump said he had no opinion on whether aliens exist, stating, 'I don't know if they're real or not.' Obama later clarified he had seen no evidence of contact, but said the universe's vastness makes extraterrestrial life statistically likely.
Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, suggested on a podcast that the president had a speech prepared on aliens for the 'right time', a claim that press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed with a laugh, saying, 'A speech on aliens would be news to me.'
Interest in UFOs resurfaced after 2017 leaks of Navy videos showing unknown objects, prompting congressional hearings in 2022. Officials said most military UFO reports remain unsolved but identified cases are largely benign. The Pentagon has since pledged greater transparency.
