A day after US President Donald Trump ordered to declassify the secret files related to the assassination of former US president John F Kennedy, the latter's grandson slammed Trump, saying that there's "nothing heroic about it".
Trump on Thursday (Jan 24) issued an executive order to declassify the last remaining secret files tied to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, his younger brother Robert F. Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of JFK and son of former US ambassador to Australia, Caroline Kennedy, denounced Trump's latest move.
Also read: Trump orders 'full and complete release' of JFK assassination files: 'Everything will be revealed'
'Truth lot sadder than the myth'
"The truth is a lot sadder than the myth," Schlossberg posted on X, referring to the conspiracy theories that have been revolving around the assassination.
He added that the decision to declassify documents turns the late former president into a "political prop, when he's not here to punch back," adding, "There's nothing heroic about it."
According to an AFP report, Trump's order requires a "full and complete release" of the documents, removing redactions that have kept parts of the files hidden.
During his first term as president, Trump, in 2017, authorised partial release of the documents.
Over the years, the US National Archives has tens of thousands of records on JFK's November 22, 1963 assassination. Yet thousands of documents from the five million-page records were withheld because of national security concerns.
Trump, while signing the order, said, "This is the big one. A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades."
Also read: Human rights advocate and Robert F Kennedy's widow Ethel Kennedy dies at 96
Notably, RFK Jr, former President John F. Kennedy's nephew, is Trump's nominee to become secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
During his re-election campaign, Trump promised to make public the last remaining secret files related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas.
Also, he made a pledge during his first term but ultimately bent to appeals from the CIA and FBI to keep some of the files withheld.
(With inputs from agencies)