Donald Trump recently released 80,000 CIA files on the JFK assassination and the following investigation. These files were released to some degree in 2017, as was mandated by the National Archives and Records Administration. At the time it was largely redacted for the concern of agents who were still active and had private information on the files. In Trump’s second term though, he opted to release them, in full, over twitter. These documents were clearly rushed out as they doxxed a few agents and put other agents at risk. Why put so much effort into the release of these files all of the sudden? Given the chance in his first term, Trump opted to release as little as possible. Something has changed, that something may be his ambitions. The power of releasing the JFK files right now comes in a couple of ways.
Voice of the People
First and most clearly, his continued dialogue with radicals. This release tracks very well to his claim to fame around cleaning up corruption in government. On face value this appears as simple honesty from the Trump Administration. This release also functions as a sort of dog whistle to the conspiracy theorists in his fanbase. Opening the floodgates of government conspiracy also appears uniquely anti establishment. This is part of the populist approach to appear to be the voice of the people above your constituents. As stated in Müller’s book What Is Populism, “ The difference is that populists justify their conduct by claiming that they alone represent the people; this allows populists to avow their practices quite openly. It also explains why revelations of corruption rarely seem to hurt populist leaders” (Müller 9). Establishing himself as anti-corruption early in his term, Trump successfully builds a case against his own future corruption. Of course, this also comes with the handy byproduct of bringing the focus of government skeptics to a 60 year old case instead of all of Trump’s current activity.
What is the utility of embracing this audience of theorists in particular though? The answer here comes in the form of Hofstetter’s book, The Paranoid Style of American Politics, as stated, “the paranoid disposition is mobilized into action chiefly by social conflicts that involve ultimate schemes of values and that bring fundamental fears and hatreds, rather than negotiable interests, into political action. Catastrophe or the fear of catastrophe is most likely to elicit the syndrome of paranoid rhetoric” (Hofstetter 39). In the same way that hatred against immigrants or DEI programs have been weaponized in political action, so too can general paranoia. This is so acutely the case with the JFK assassination that in this book it is used as an example 3 separate times. Remember though, the established populist mindset shields the Trump administration itself from any criticism. Rather, all of the hate and vitriol land in a general old guard that Trump appears to be fighting against. The next step is to utilize this momentum to break down this old guard, particularly, the CIA.
The CIA and the President
Steps have already been taken to weaken the CIA. In his DOGE initiative Trump has already taken to gutting the intelligence agency both in staff and financials. The publication of the JFK files furthers this by depicting reasonable doubt around the CIA. This places all of the CIA operations on freeze for the most part as things remain in flux and paranoia goes around. While the prior benefits alone could be substantial enough, there may be another extension to this particular power grab. Was Trump truly so concerned with the truth, or was this potentially preempting a different kind of check on his power.
To be fair, the CIA is an agency notably under the Executive branch. So to call them a legal check on executive powers, the way that the legislative branch ought to be, is a stretch. That being said, the CIA and Presidents have had different relationships depending on a series of factors. For example, George W. Bush worked incredibly closely with the CIA as during his time in office, intelligence was the name of the game in the search for Osama Bin Laden. Other Presidents more often fought with the CIA, namely JFK himself. Factually, the CIA devised the infamous Bay of Pigs disaster with Eisenhower, by the time that JFK was briefed it was already in motion. Even with this being the case JFK took the blame as his administration ultimately went through with it. This led to JFK very vocally wanting to dismantle the intelligence agency, stating “splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds”.
This writing won’t theorize about what may or may not have happened around this fact, but there is room between these two offices for schism without question. In this day and age where intelligence is king and popularity is crucial it is not out of the question for an intelligence agency to unofficially “check” the president. Whether through withholding information subtly or leaking information unsubtly there are many reasons a potential autocrat may not want a loose CIA. This targeting of the reputation and resources of the CIA may be a precautionary step.
Not Very Original
To see these sort of preemptive strikes in action, one must look across the globe. In Turkiye, Edrogan saw his primary block to power as the military. The skepticism here was well placed as Turkiye had a long history of military coups. Initially the military attempted an e-memorandum against the Erdogan government. This backfired as the election went on anyways and Erdogan’s party won. Once in power, Erdogan didn’t hesitate to limit the military’s oversight on political matters. Particularly revoking Article 35 of the army’s Internal Service Law, making them incapable of intervening in civilian politics. This then followed with the arresting of hundreds of high ranking officials and placing a loyalist at the head of the armed forces.
This is not to suggest that the CIA is on the verge of a coup. Rather, that the existence of the CIA proves more a detriment than an asset to the Trump administration. As stated, President to President the CIA plays a completely different role. One must, at the very least, consider the combination of actions taking place as steps in a longer plan. These files are conveniently dropped as he takes action to cripple the CIA. This includes firing hundreds of employees and putting a loyalist in as director.Regardless of what the CIA was capable of in ’63, we can see very clearly what Donald Trump is capable of now.
This is a very interesting post! It makes me think of would-be autocrats’ tactic of creating a constant sense of emergency while pursuing power to legitimize their own actions, which Donald Trump is likely employing. By releasing these tapes and making it seem like there is a fundamental problem within the CIA that cannot be changed through regular reform, he introduces immense doubt and paranoia into the populace, as you discussed. In doing so, Trump may be laying the groundwork to justify taking undemocratic action against the agency, which can be very harmful to American democracy.