Trump promises to declassify alien files while shouting about Obama and UFOs

President Donald Trump said he is directing federal agencies to release government documents discussing extraterrestrial life and unexplained weather phenomena.

“Based on the tremendous interest you have shown, I will direct the Secretary of War and other relevant departments and agencies to begin the process of identifying and disseminating government files relating to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information associated with these very complex, but extremely interesting and important matters,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Thursday evening.

Trump earlier Thursday accused former President Barack Obama of revealing classified information when he discussed the idea of ​​extraterrestrial life during a recent podcast appearance.

“He provided classified information, and he’s not supposed to do that,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. The president indicated that he could get Obama out of trouble by declassifying relevant information.

Obama told liberal commentator Brian Tyler Cohen in an interview earlier this month that aliens are “real,” but added that he has not seen any, “and they are not being held captive at Area 51.” The former president later clarified that he did not mean to indicate any special knowledge.

The US intelligence community released a report in 2021 detailing what it knows about unidentified flying objects spotted by military pilots over the past several decades. The unclassified report contained few definitive answers and did not mention theories that extraterrestrials might have been responsible, but it said the government wanted to take reports of such events seriously.

In the same year, the Pentagon released videos showing US military pilots tracking unidentified flying objects that were rapidly rotating or changing directions in the air.

Trump’s push to focus on aliens comes at the start of a frenetic midterm election year, with intense public focus on information revealed in the files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — many of which mention Trump by name — as well as the issue of affordability, which has weighed on his approval ratings.

Republicans face an uphill battle to retain their majority in Congress, as opinion polls show that voters are dissatisfied with the president’s approach to managing the economy and the cost of living.

And in Georgia earlier Thursday, Trump claimed victory on affordability, signaling an unwillingness to embrace the idea that economic concerns are growing as he begins campaigning for Republican candidates across the country.

Trump was repeatedly criticized by Democrats during his time in office for revealing classified information, and federal charges were brought against him over allegations that he intentionally kept classified defense documents after his first term. This case was later dismissed when he won re-election in 2024.

(John Harney contributed to this report.)

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Kate Sullivan; Bloomberg News; (TNS) | ©2026 Bloomberg LP Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.