This browser does not support the Video element.
Trump orders release of UFO government files
President Trump says he is ordering government agencies to come clean about UFOs and the possibility of alien encounters. That followed some curious comments from President Obama.
President Donald Trump is directing the Pentagon and other government agencies to identify and release files related to extraterrestrials and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
Trump shared the news on social media Thursday night after he accused former President Barack Obama of disclosing "classified information" when Obama recently suggested in a podcast interview that aliens were real.
RELATED: Obama explains alien comments after claiming ‘they’re real’ on podcast interview
FILE-President Donald Trump speaks during an event at the Coosa Steel Corporation in Rome, Georgia, on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (Megan Varner/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But Obama later clarified his comments, explaining that he had not seen evidence that aliens "have made contact with us," but said, "statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there."
The president told reporters aboard Air Force One, "I don’t know if they’re real or not," and said of Obama, "I may get him out of trouble by declassifying."
Trump talks release of alien and UFO files
What they're saying:
Trump talked about a release of the files Thursday night in a post on his Truth Social platform. "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. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
There's been a renewed public interest in UFOs and the potential of the government concealing secrets of aliens after a group of former Pentagon and government officials leaked Navy videos of unknown objects to The New York Times and Politico in 2017.
And this resulted in Congress holding their first hearings in 2022 on UFOs in 50 years, though officials said that the objects, which appeared to be green triangles floating above a Navy ship, were possibly drones.
The Associated Press reported that the Pentagon also created the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, in 2022, which was meant to be a hub to gather reports of all military UFO encounters.
Furthermore, information released to the public shows that a majority of UFO reports made by the military go unsolved but the ones that are identified are harmless.
The Source: Information for this story was provided by a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump, the Associated Press, and previous FOX Local reporting. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.