--- title: JFK Files: Donald Trump Delays the Release of Some Documents description: President Trump released 2,891 records pertaining to the assassination of JFK, postponing the release of some documents for up to six months canonical: https://time.com/4999648/jfk-assassination-records-released/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-26T22:41:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T02:13:15.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Will Delay the Release of Some John F. Kennedy Assassination Records og:description: The government released about 2,800 records og:url: https://time.com/4999648/jfk-assassination-records-released/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69d427636bc46359/6988e39e22fb8574c4e23741/donald-trump-jfk-records-release.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5115 og:image:height: 2877 og:image:alt: donald-trump-jfk-records-release og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Will Delay the Release of Some John F. Kennedy Assassination Records twitter:description: The government released about 2,800 records twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69d427636bc46359/6988e39e22fb8574c4e23741/donald-trump-jfk-records-release.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Will Delay the Release of Some John F. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4ac47b5d-4f3e-4c0d-8162-ca557923873f&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:13 AM UTCPublished: Oct 26, 2017 10:41 PM UTC  President John F Kennedy's motorcade in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963. President John F Kennedy's motorcade in Dallas, Texas on Nov. 22, 1963. Universal History Archive/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 13, 2023 2:13 AM UTCPublished: Oct 26, 2017 10:41 PM UTC President Trump [released 2,891 records](https://www.archives.gov/press/press-releases/nr18-05) pertaining to the assassination of [President John F. Kennedy](http://time.com/4763638/jfk-covers-life/) on Thursday night, but will postpone the release of some documents for up to six months due to redaction requests from the FBI and CIA. The agencies have been ordered to review the redactions during the next 180 days to determine if they’re necessary, according to a White House memo. “I am ordering today that the veil finally be lifted,” Trump said in the memo Thursday night, adding that some agencies and executive departments had requested some information be withheld due to national security concerns. “I have no choice — today — but to accept those redactions rather than allow potentially irreversible harm to our Nation’s security” Trump ordered the documents to be withheld until no later than April 26, 2018\. “This temporary withholding from full public disclosure is necessary to protect against harm to the military defense, intelligence operations, law enforcement, or the conduct of foreign relations that is of such gravity that it outweighs the public interest in immediate disclosure,” he said. Thursday was the long established deadline for the [release of all records related to the Kennedy assassination](http://time.com/4988279/final-jfk-assassination-documents-release/), based on a law passed in 1992\. Trump has been [touting the release](http://time.com/4992342/donald-trump-jfk-files-released/) this week. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/923277142271684609) Resolutions introduced in the Senate and House this month said there were about 3,000 unreleased documents pertaining to the Kennedy assassination. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4999648/jfk-assassination-records-released/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4999648/jfk-assassination-records-released/"},"headline":"President Trump Will Delay the Release of Some John F. 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