Readers All Have Same Response

In his first week as president, Donald Trump signed an executive order to declassify documents related to the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy. On January 23, he also announced plans to release documents concerning the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By March 17, an 80,000-page document was made available to the public, but many readers were underwhelmed. Social media users expressed disappointment, noting that the documents were mostly redacted, with many already declassified years ago. Some felt the release was a “smokescreen” offering little new information.

JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, criticized the declassification as a political move, arguing that it used JFK’s legacy for publicity. He expressed that the truth behind the assassination was a sad tragedy rather than a conspiracy, and he felt it was disrespectful to treat his grandfather’s death as part of a larger political agenda. In response to online criticism, Schlossberg humorously remarked that he’d like to speak to JFK from beyond the grave and promised to behave with more class, though he joked about traffic as well.