President Donald Trump said on Thursday (February 19, 2026) that he's directing the Pentagon and other government agencies to identify and release files related to extraterrestrials and UFOs because of “tremendous interest.”
Mr. Trump made the announcement in a social media post hours after he accused former President Barack Obama of disclosing “classified information” when Mr. Obama recently suggested in a podcast interview that aliens were real.
Pentagon study finds no sign of alien life in reported UFO sightings going back decades
Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, “I don’t know if they’re real or not," and said of Mr. Obama, “I may get him out of trouble by declassifying.”
In a post on his social media platform on Thursday (February 19, 2026) night, Mr. Trump said he was directing government agencies to release 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.”
