President Donald Trump announced on February 19, 2026 (late Thursday), that he is directing the U.S. government—specifically the Secretary of War (referring to the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth) and other relevant departments and agencies—to begin identifying and releasing government files related to:
- Alien and extraterrestrial life
- Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP)
- Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)
- Any and all other connected information
He made this statement via a post on Truth Social, citing "tremendous interest shown" in the topic.
Trump emphasized that these are "highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters," and ended with "GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
This directive follows recent public comments by former President Barack Obama, who suggested in a podcast or interview that aliens are "real" (though he noted he hadn't seen definitive proof).
Trump criticized Obama for allegedly revealing classified information, calling it a "big mistake," and said he didn't personally know if aliens exist but was responding to the surge in interest sparked by those remarks.
Major news outlets (including NBC News, NPR, Reuters, Politico, CNBC, The Hill, CBS News, The Guardian, AP, Time, Al Jazeera, and others) reported on this announcement within hours, describing it as Trump ordering the Pentagon (Department of Defense) and other agencies to declassify and release relevant UFO/UAP/extraterrestrial records.
Key points from reports:
- This is framed as a response to public demand rather than a claim of confirmed alien evidence.
- Trump has expressed skepticism mixed with curiosity about aliens/UFOs in the past.
- No immediate timeline for releases was specified—it's the start of a process to identify and release files.
- The term "Secretary of War" appears in Trump's post (and some quotes), though the modern title is Secretary of Defense
—this may be a stylistic or historical reference.
As of now (early February 20, 2026), no actual files have been released based on this directive—it's an order to begin the process.
This builds on prior U.S. government efforts (e.g., congressional requirements for UAP record collections at the National Archives from earlier laws like the 2024 NDAA).
Further developments would depend on agency implementation and any declassification reviews.
