Trump says he doesn’t know if aliens are real but directs government to release files on UFOs, more
The Hindu
Trump directs the Pentagon to release UFO files amid public interest, while questioning the reality of extraterrestrial life.
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.
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.”
Mr. Obama, who made his comments in a podcast appearance over the weekend, later clarified 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.”
Mr. Trump told reporters that when it came to the prospect of extraterrestrial visitors: “I don’t have an opinion on it. I never talk about it. A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it.”
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