President Trump announced Thursday that he will direct top administration officials to begin identifying and releasing government files related to UFOs, unidentified aerial phenomena, and extraterrestrial life. The directive, posted on Truth Social, followed a week in which the topic surged back into the national conversation after former President Obama claimed aliens are "real" during a podcast interview.
Trump's announcement was characteristically direct:
"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), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters."
The post closed with "GOD BLESS AMERICA!" and landed like a grenade in a news cycle that was already buzzing.
The chain of events began Saturday, when a podcast interview between Obama and host Brian Tyler Cohen aired. In it, the former president said aliens are "real," though he added he hasn't "seen" any and that "they're not being kept in Area 51."
Obama later walked the remarks back, saying they were made in "the spirit of the speed round" of questions and that he saw "no evidence" of alien life during his time as commander-in-chief. So aliens are real, except he never saw evidence they were real, except they're real. Clear enough.
The New York Post reported that Trump, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One earlier Thursday, zeroed in on a different angle entirely: the question of classified information.
"He gave classified information, he's not supposed to be doing that."
He followed up bluntly:
"I don't know if they're real or not, but I can tell you he gave classified information."
Trump added that Obama "made a big mistake" and "took it out of classified information," while noting that he himself doesn't have a personal opinion on the subject. "A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it," he said.
The announcement drew immediate enthusiasm from lawmakers who have spent years pushing for greater transparency on the government's UAP-related activities. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, the Florida Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee's task force on declassification of federal secrets, posted her reaction on X:
"Looks like we are about to have a ton of hearings on this :)! Thank you @POTUS!!!"
Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican and fellow member of the declassification task force, kept it simpler: "It's time. Thank you, @realDonaldTrump."
No formal hearings have been scheduled yet, but Luna's comment suggests the legislative machinery is warming up. The declassification task force now has presidential backing to match its congressional appetite, which changes the dynamic considerably.
Whatever you think about little green men, the underlying principle here matters. The federal government has spent decades accumulating files, testimony, and investigative records related to unexplained aerial phenomena. Much of it has been locked behind classification walls that even members of Congress have struggled to penetrate. Bipartisan frustration over government secrecy on UAPs has been building for years. Trump just kicked the door open.
This is the kind of move that resonates beyond partisan lines. Americans across the political spectrum have grown deeply skeptical of institutional secrecy, and for good reason. When the government hoards information and tells citizens to trust the process, trust erodes. Sunlight remains the best disinfectant, whether the subject is spending, surveillance, or sightings.
The contrast with Obama's approach is instructive. Obama teased the topic on a podcast, made headlines, then retreated behind qualifications about "speed rounds" and statistical probability. Trump responded by ordering the files opened. One former president played coy for clicks. The current one moved to give the public the records.
Brian Tyler Cohen, the podcast host who conducted the Obama interview, posted his own victory lap after Trump's announcement, writing that critics had complained about his lack of follow-up questions but "now we're gonna get the truth about aliens and UFOs, you're welcome."
It's a strange timeline when a podcast host claims credit for a presidential declassification directive. But here we are.
The real test comes next: whether the bureaucracy complies swiftly or slow-walks the process, as federal agencies have a long tradition of doing when transparency threatens comfortable secrecy. Trump gave the order. Now the machinery has to deliver.
