US President John F. Kennedy waves from his car in a motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Photo / AP
US President John F. Kennedy waves from his car in a motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Photo / AP
If you woke up this morning expecting to be able to read the long-awaited classified files related to the assassination of former US president John F Kennedy, you're not alone.
Current US President Donald Trump is delaying the release of some files on the JFK assassination that were due tocome out today. He's approved 2800 other records for release.
White House officials say Trump will state in a coming memo that he had "no choice" but to keep others secret because of national security concerns. He's having those records further reviewed for the next six months. Officials say Trump will impress upon federal agencies that JFK files should stay secret after the six-month review "only in the rarest cases."
Anticipation is at fever pitch in the US after Trump promised to release the trove of documents today, but as of Thursday night New York time, the world was still waiting.
The long anticipated release of the #JFKFiles will take place tomorrow. So interesting!
NBC News reported that the memo detailing which material the agencies wanted to redact had not yet made it to Trump's desk.
"There's a mad scramble going on in the executive branch to get this done," one official told the news outlet.
Lee Harvey Oswald talks to the media as he is led down a corridor of the Dallas police station on November 23, 1963. Photo / AP
With the legal deadline for the release rapidly approaching, only a portion of the 3100 never-before-seen documents were expected to be released online on Thursday, according to NBC News.
Meanwhile, America's ABC News says Trump himself is the holdup. The National Archives is ready to release the documents, but is waiting on the final approval from the President.
We've been told Nat'l Archives is ready to release last batch of #JFK Assassination files but is waiting on final approval from @POTUS. 1/2
As of Thursday night New York time, the US National Archives website was still saying "Stay tuned for updates" on the release of the documents. The National Archives did not respond to news.com.au's queries about when the files would be published.
The message on the National Archives' homepage www.archives.gov
Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963.
Almost 30 years later, US politicians set the deadline of October 26, 2017, to release the papers under the John F Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act.
Conspiracy theorists have long challenged the official story that Kennedy was killed by lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald.
Trump has had a busy day in Washington, making a landmark speech declaring opioid drug crisis a national public health emergency.
