Donald Trump announced that he will instruct various federal agencies to identify and release government files related to unidentified flying objects (UFOs), unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), and possible extraterrestrial life.

Through his account on Truth Social, the president explained that the measure seeks to collect and make public documents on topics that He described them as “highly complex, but extremely interesting and important.” He explained that the order will include the War Department and other federal agencies, in an attempt to make transparent information that has generated public speculation for decades.

Obama's statements reignite the controversy

Trump's announcement comes after comments made by former President Barack Obama during a podcast with journalist Brian Tyler Cohen. In a rapid-fire question round about extraterrestrial life, Obama responded: “They're real, but I haven't seen them.”

The former president clarified that, during his presidency, he did not have access to evidence confirming contact with extraterrestrials or knowledge about alleged secret underground facilities, unless there was a large-scale conspiracy that even withheld information from the president.

Trump criticized those statements to reporters aboard Air Force One, asserting that Obama “gave away classified information” and made “a grave mistake.” However, the current president acknowledged that he himself does not know if extraterrestrials exist, but insisted on the need to make official files public to clear up any doubts. Later, Obama clarified on Instagram that he saw no "evidence" of contact with extraterrestrial life, although he noted that, given the vastness of the universe, it is likely that life exists beyond Earth. Background on declassification in the U.S. Interest in unidentified aerial phenomena is not new in the United States. In 2013, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) declassified documents that officially confirmed the existence of Area 51.A secret military base established in the 1950s by order of President Dwight D. Eisenhower to conduct tests of the U-2 spy plane. In recent years, the Department of Defense has also released preliminary reports on UAPs, acknowledging the existence of aerial incidents that could not be explained with the available information. Although there is no public evidence to date confirming the presence of extraterrestrial life on Earth, the potential release of new official files could offer more clarity on unidentified aerial phenomena and how the U.S. government has handled this information over the decades.