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By Peter Aitken
Politics Weekend Editor
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President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post that he has directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to begin identifying and releasing any government files related to unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and aliens following significant interest over the past week.
Trump's missive arrived after he criticized former President Barack Obama for saying aliens are "real" but "not being kept" in Area 51, later walking back the comment and arguing that he merely meant "statistically" the "odds are good there's life out there."
Trump said he wasn't sure if aliens exist but that Obama had disclosed "classified information" in making his comments.
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Why It Matters
Trump has repeatedly addressed the subject of aliens and UFOs over the years, usually striking a tone of skepticism mixed with curiosity rather than outright belief.
He has said he received briefings as president on reported UFO sightings by U.S. pilots, acknowledged meeting with “serious people” who claimed to have seen unexplained objects, but consistently added that he was “not a believer,” even while conceding that “anything is possible.”
Trump has also hinted at knowing more than he was willing to say publicly, including remarks about the Roswell incident that he described as “very interesting” without offering details.
A 2021 Pew Research Center survey found that almost two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans say their best guess is that intelligent life exists on other planets.
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What To Know
Public interest in aliens spiked again over the past week after Obama's comments during a wide-ranging interview with journalist Brian Tyler Cohen, which published Saturday.
After triggering a flurry of speculation based on his remarks, which included that "there's no underground facility, unless there's this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States," Obama clarified that "statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there."
"But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!" he added.
Reporters on Thursday raised the issue with Trump aboard Air Force One, to which the president said he didn't know if aliens were real or not, although he believed that Obama had disclosed "classified information" with his statement.
Trump is now escalating the issue by ordering a review and release of any documents related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life, among other matters.
"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," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
What Has Donald Trump Said About Aliens?
In June 2019, Trump said he had been briefed on Navy UFO reports and expressed doubt, stating to ABC News: “I did have one very brief meeting on it,” adding that “people are saying they’re seeing UFOs. Do I believe it? Not particularly.”
Also in 2019, he told Tucker Carlson he wasn’t convinced UFOs existed. “Well, I don't want to really get into it too much. But personally, I tend to doubt it," Trump said. "I'm not a believer, but you know, I guess anything is possible.”
In June 2020, when his son, Donald Trump Jr., asked him about revealing “what’s really going on with Roswell,” Trump answered, per The Hill: “I won’t talk to you about what I know about it, but it’s very interesting.”
Appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast in 2024, Trump also expressed skepticism, saying that he’d never been a believer.
On Greg Gutfeld's Fox News show in September 2024, Trump said the question he may get more than any other is about aliens in Area 51, and repeated that pilots told him of a “round object going faster than my F-22.”
Update 2/19/26, 10:33 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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