The directive came just hours after Trump criticized former President Barack Obama for recent comments suggesting aliens are "real." Trump claimed Obama had disclosed classified information, calling it a "big mistake" and stating that Obama "is not supposed to be doing that."
The Spark: Obama's Podcast Remarks
The controversy traces back to a podcast interview with Brian Tyler Cohen, released around February 14, 2026. When asked directly, "Are aliens real?" Obama responded: "They're real, but I haven't seen them. And they're not being kept in... Area 51. There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."
Obama later clarified his statement on social media, explaining that he was responding in the "spirit of the speed round" of questions. He emphasized: "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."
Despite the clarification—that Obama had seen no evidence of alien contact during his time in office—his initial quip went viral, sparking widespread discussion and memes across social media.
Trump's Response and Announcement
Aboard Air Force One on February 19, Trump addressed reporters about Obama's remarks. He expressed uncertainty about aliens himself: "I don't know if they're real or not." He then accused Obama of mishandling classified info, adding jokingly, "I may get him out of trouble by declassifying."
Later that evening, Trump posted on Truth Social: "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. GOD BLESS AMERICA!"
The announcement has fueled excitement among UFO enthusiasts, while skeptics question whether it will yield groundbreaking revelations or mostly redacted documents, given ongoing UAP investigations by the Pentagon and Congress in recent years.
Trump's move continues his pattern of declassification efforts and taps into long-standing public curiosity about potential government knowledge of non-human intelligence. Whether this leads to transparency or more questions remains to be seen, but it has undeniably placed the topic back in the national spotlight.
Did Trump inadvertently confirm what Obama stated? If Trump's reply to the reporter was that Obama was not supposed to reveal classified information, then that means what Obama said was true, aliens are real, and this was classified. Or perhaps this is a distraction from the Epstein files?
Sources
- Axios: "Trump orders UFO files release after slamming Obama over alien comments" (February 20, 2026) - https://www.axios.com/2026/02/20/trump-alien-ufo-government-files-release-obama
- USA Today: "Trump ordering release of government files on aliens after Obama comment" (February 19, 2026) - https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/02/19/donald-trump-barack-obama-aliens-real-classified-information/88762872007/
- The New York Times: "Trump Says He Will Release Files on Aliens and U.F.O.s" (February 19, 2026) - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/us/politics/trump-ufos-aliens-files.html
- CBS News: "Trump says he's directing Pentagon to release any files on UFOs and 'alien and extraterrestrial life'" (February 20, 2026) - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-ufo-alien-and-extraterrestrial-life-files-pentagon
- Reuters: "Alien files incoming: Trump orders government release of UFO records" (February 19, 2026) - https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-claims-obama-revealed-classified-information-when-he-said-aliens-are-real-2026-02-19
- The Guardian: "Trump says he will order the release of Pentagon files on aliens and UFOs" (February 20, 2026) - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/20/trump-aliens-ufos-pentagon-files-release
