President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will order the release of government records related to “alien and extraterrestrial life.” Trump unveiled his plans in a Truth Social post, citing the “tremendous interest shown” in these complex and important matters. The move comes as a direct response to former President Barack Obama’s viral claim that aliens “are real.”
Trump directed the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and other agency heads to begin identifying and releasing files on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Earlier in the day, the president joked to reporters aboard Air Force One that Obama had illegally shared “classified information” during a podcast interview. “He made a big mistake,” Trump said while teasing that he might “get him out of trouble” by declassifying the files himself.
Obama had initially sparked an international frenzy during a “lightning round” on Brian Tyler Cohen’s YouTube show by stating that aliens are real but not kept at Area 51. After the comments went viral, the former president issued a clarification on Instagram, insisting he saw “no evidence” of contact during his presidency. “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” Obama wrote to calm the buzz.
The Trump administration’s move aligns with a broader push for transparency that has gained momentum in the 119th Congress. Lawmakers recently passed provisions in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act to increase oversight of UAP intercepts near military installations. While Trump maintains he does not have a personal opinion on extraterrestrials, he noted that “a lot of people believe it.”
This push for disclosure follows years of growing public fascination sparked by leaked Navy videos of unexplained high-speed objects. The Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has investigated hundreds of reports but has yet to confirm the existence of non-human technology. By ordering a sweeping declassification, Trump aims to settle the debate once and for all while calling out what he describes as his predecessor’s “clumsy” handling of secrets.
Lara Trump previously suggested that the president might be preparing a major speech on extraterrestrial life for this summer. The speech would reportedly coincide with the 79th anniversary of the famous Roswell incident in July. For now, the administration is focused on “biological truth” across all sectors of government, ensuring that the “clown show” of secrecy finally comes to an end.