Trump to allow release of Kennedy assassination files

The November 22, 1963 assassination has spawned multiple theories challenging the official version that Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald.

The release of all the secret documents has therefore been eagerly anticipated by historians and conspiracy theorists alike. 

Trump's announcement followed reports that not all the files would be released, possibly to protect still relevant intelligence sources and methods.

The president appears to have however decided otherwise.

The files are due to be opened in their entirety Thursday, nearly 54 years after Kennedy's assassination in Dallas - unless the US president decides otherwise.

Millions of classified Kennedy files have been made public under a 1992 law passed in response to a surge in public demand for disclosure in the wake of Oliver Stone's conspiracy-heavy movie on the assassination.

However, the law placed a 25-year hold on a small percentage of the files that expires October 26.

Some reports put the number withheld at 3,100. Tens of thousands of files that had been released with portions blacked out are also set to be fully declassified.

"The president believes that these documents should be made available in the interests of full transparency, unless agencies provide a compelling and clear national security or law enforcement justification otherwise," a White House official said.