U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday released over 240,000 pages of FBI records related to the surveillance and assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
The move also comes at a politically sensitive moment, as Trump faces increasing backlash from his own base over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Donald Trump’s administration released over 240,000 FBI pages related to Martin Luther King Jr.
Highlights
- Donald Trump’s administration released over 240,000 FBI pages on Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination despite family opposition and civil rights concerns.
- The release was timed amid backlash over Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and demands from MAGA supporters for full Epstein file disclosure.
- Trump’s approval rating fell to 42% with growing dissent in his base, some even burning MAGA hats in protest of his lack of transparency.
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The files, sealed since 1977, include leads the FBI received after MLK’s assassination, interviews with people who knew his killer, James Earl Ray, and details of the CIA’s intense interest in his shift toward international anti-war activism in the years before his death.
These were released despite opposition from his family and the civil rights group that he led until his 1968 assassination.
King’s two children, Martin Luther King III and Bernice King, urged that the files “be viewed within their full historical context.”
“As the children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King, his tragic death has been an intensely personal grief — a devastating loss for his wife, children, and the granddaughter he never met – an absence our family has endured for over 57 years,” they wrote in a joint statement.
“We ask those who engage with the release of these files to do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief.”
They emphasized that their father’s killing remains deeply personal and expressed concern that the files could be misused to smear his legacy.
“The intent of the FBI’s surveillance was to discredit, dismantle and destroy our father and the broader Civil Rights Movement,” the statement added.
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Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece, Alveda King, who is an outspoken conservative, said she was “grateful to President Trump” for his “transparency.”
The Trump administration had promised to declassify records related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Trump signed an executive order shortly after taking office to initiate those releases.
The JFK files were released in March, followed by partial RFK documents in April.
However, the timing of the MLK file release is to be noted, arriving during a storm of political controversy over Trump’s handling of the Epstein case.
Last Friday, Trump directed the Department of Justice to release grand jury testimony from the Epstein investigation, but stopped short of unsealing the full case file.
The Trump administration’s apparent lack of honesty and transparency around Jeffrey Epstein’s death and client list has caused major criticism from MAGA supporters.
MAGA supporters are demanding the administration release the Epstein files
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Now, critics have accused Trump of using the MLK release as a distraction, including King’s children.
This also comes as Trump’s approval ratings have dipped, as shown in a new CBS/YouGov poll. Trump’s approval rating dropped to 42% with a 58% disapproval rate. The survey found Trump’s approval rating at 45% in June.
The CBS poll further shows that Trump’s immigration policies, once a centerpiece of MAGA support, are now opposed by a majority of Americans. The same poll shows 56% disapprove of his deportation efforts and 58% oppose the use of detention centers.
That’s a 10-point drop from polling at the beginning of Trump’s second term in February.
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Trump has also faced growing criticism regarding the U.S.’s participation in Iran. Steve Bannon, Trump’s former advisor and an influential voice from Trump's ‘America First’ coalition, is one of the Republican voices at odds with the president.
“The Israelis need to finish what they started,” Bannon told reporters at an event sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor in Washington last week. “This is not something you play around with. You have to think this through at this level, and the American people have to be on board. You can’t just dump this on them.”
However, Trump remained unfazed last Wednesday, telling reporters at the White House, “My supporters are more in love with me today, and I’m in love with them more than they were even at election time.”
But some supporters have been burning their MAGA hats in protest, showing disapproval of Trump’s recent actions, including the MLK files release.
Trump’s approval rating has dropped by 10 points since February
“If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of the people,” Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X.
“If not. The base will turn and there’s no going back. Dangling bits of red meat no longer satisfies. They want the whole steak dinner and will accept nothing else.”
While Bernice King and Martin Luther King III did not mention Trump in their statement, Bernice King later posted a picture of her father on her personal Instagram page, captioned, “Now, do the Epstein files.”
“Trump releasing the MLK assassination files is not about transparency or justice,” said American civil rights activist Al Sharpton.
“It’s a desperate attempt to distract people from the firestorm engulfing Trump over the Epstein files and the public unraveling of his credibility among the MAGA base.”
Despite growing calls for the full release of Epstein-related records, several people in the Trump administration have praised the MLK document release as a demonstration of government transparency.
“The American people have waited nearly sixty years to see the full scope of the federal government's investigation into Dr. King's assassination,” said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who announced the release of the MLK documents.
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The files were initially sealed until 2027, but the Justice Department asked a judge to lift the order early.
Despite the document dump, historians studying King have noted that the newly released files offer few new insights into the civil rights leader’s death. They point out that key materials, including the FBI wiretap recordings of MLK, remain sealed under court order until 2027.