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aliases category tags summary born location relations created updated
Donald John Trump
Donald J. Trump
Trump
Political Figure
KeyFigure
Person
DonaldTrump
PeterThiel
RepublicanParty
President
Palantir
JDVance
LeonardLeo
DarkMoney
FederalistSociety
JeffreyEpstein
EpsteinFilesTransparencyAct
SupremeCourt
RussiaInvestigation
UAP
RoyCohn
CambridgeAnalytica
45th and 47th President of the United States, defended by Roy Cohn in the 1973 housing suit, whose administrations appointed Thiel, Leo and Kushner network figures and who signed the Epstein Files Act. 1946-06-14 Queens, New York City (born)
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appointed Neil Gorsuch 2017-04-10 1
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appointed Brett Kavanaugh 2018-10-06 1
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appointed Amy Coney Barrett 2020-10-26 1
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appointed Alexander Acosta 2017-04-27 1
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appointed Pam Bondi 2025-02-04 2026-04-02 37
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appointed Todd Blanche 2026-04-02 acting Attorney General 37
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appointed Howard Lutnick 2025-02 37
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appointed David Sacks 2024-12 36
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appointed Jay Clayton 2026-10-04 White House AI czar 36
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represented Todd Blanche true 2023 37
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represented Roy Cohn true 1973 defense counsel in United States v. Fred C. Trump, et al., No. 73 C 1529 (E.D.N.Y.) 6
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investigated Robert Mueller true 2017-05-17 2019-03-22 24
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employed_by Steve Bannon true 2016-08 campaign chief executive 17
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relative_of Jared Kushner father-in-law 31
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spouse_of Melania Trump 39
2026-06-18 2026-10-28

Donald Trump (born June 14, 1946) is the 45th and 47th President of the United States, serving from 2017 to 2021 and from 2025. His administrations appointed figures from the Peter Thiel commercial network, the Leonard Leo judicial-selection network and the Jared Kushner Middle East network to federal office and contracts, and the second administration signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act into law on November 19, 2025.12

New York and the Trump Organization

Trump was born in Queens, New York, the son of the real estate developer Fred Trump, and became the chief executive of the Trump Organization in New York. He later held casino and resort interests in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He bought the Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida in 1985.3

In the 1980s Alan Greenberg of Bear Stearns was among the advisers who helped Trump accumulate 9.6 percent of Bally Entertainment in an unsuccessful 1986 takeover attempt. Trump said in 2006 that he had placed his children's accounts with Greenberg.4

The Housing Suit and Roy Cohn

On October 15, 1973 the United States sued Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump and Trump Management, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under the Fair Housing Act of 1968, Civil Action No. 73 C 1529, before Judge Edward R. Neaher.56 The complaint covered 39 buildings with more than 14,000 apartments and drew on reports from black and white testers sent by the Open Housing Center of the New York Urban League; the Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed company employees, former employees and applicants in the investigation that preceded the suit.7

The defendants retained Roy Cohn of the firm Saxe, Bacon, Bolan & Manley. Cohn had been admitted to the New York bar in 1948 and in 1952 appeared among the counsel for the United States on the Second Circuit appeal in United States v. Rosenberg; the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse summary of the Trump case describes him as a former aide to Senator Joseph McCarthy. The Senate's staff list gives Cohn's service as chief counsel of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations as January 15, 1953 to August 13, 1954.789 The docket shows that on December 12, 1973 the defendants moved to dismiss the complaint and filed a counterclaim, that the government moved on January 8, 1974 to dismiss the counterclaim, and that both motions were argued before Neaher on January 25, 1974. The docket records the government's response to affidavits of Donald Trump and Roy Cohn, a government motion for sanctions returnable in May 1974, and a notice to take Donald Trump's deposition.5 The counterclaim sought 100 million dollars from the government for defamation. The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse summary states that Neaher dismissed it and allowed the Fair Housing Act suit to proceed, and The Nation reported that the judge dismissed it about two months after it was filed; the docket records the argument on January 25, 1974 but not the order.710

David Marcus, identified as Cohn's cousin, said in the 2024 PBS Frontline film The Choice 2024 that when Cohn met Trump he told him, "You might be guilty; it doesn't matter. Go after the Justice Department. Don't ever admit guilt." Ken Auletta of The New Yorker said in the same film that Trump was "totally taken" by Cohn's advice to "fight it" and "just deny everything and fight."11

The case ended in a consent order entered June 10, 1975. It recites that the order was entered "without adjudication of the merit and without any admission as to the existence or absence of liability," that "Defendants vigorously deny said allegations," and that Trump Management's execution of it was "in no way an admission" of a violation. It dismissed the complaint against Fred Trump and Donald Trump personally, with prejudice. It permanently enjoined the company from refusing to rent or sell, discriminating in terms, and representing that a dwelling was unavailable when it was available, directed the principal officers to "thoroughly acquaint themselves personally on a detailed basis" with the Fair Housing Act, and required a two-year affirmative program that began with written notice to the Open Housing Center of the New York Urban League. Cohn signed for the defendants and Frank E. Schwelb, Chief of the Housing Section of the Civil Rights Division, for the United States.6

On June 23, 1986 the Appellate Division, First Department, in Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15, sustained four charges brought by the Departmental Disciplinary Committee in the fall of 1982 and disbarred Cohn effective immediately, in a per curiam opinion joined by Justices Sandler, Fein, Lynch, Rosenberger and Ellerin. Cohn's counsel were Michael Mukasey and Harold R. Tyler Jr. The charges concerned a 100,000-dollar loan from a client in 1966 that remained unpaid until 1984; the violation of an escrow order in a Securities and Exchange Commission fraud action involving two yachts; a December 6, 1975 codicil to the will of Lewis Rosenstiel, signed in a Miami hospital room weeks before his death and naming Cohn as an additional executor and trustee; and a false answer on Cohn's July 28, 1982 application to the District of Columbia Bar, where question 8(b) asked whether any charges or complaints concerning his conduct as an attorney were pending and he answered "No." The court wrote that "for an attorney practicing for nearly 40 years in this State, such misconduct is inexcusable" and that the evidence on each charge left "no recourse but to order disbarment."12 The FBI's online Vault carries a 748-page file titled Roy Cohn, Part 01 of 01.13 The program of the May 2, 1983 B'nai B'rith tribute dinner for Cohn, in the Reagan Library files, lists Donald J. Trump, President, The Trump Organization, among the sponsors beside Rupert Murdoch.14

The 2016 Campaign and the Thiel Network

Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley investor, endorsed Trump at the July 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, as the first openly gay speaker at a Republican convention in sixteen years. Federal Election Commission schedule A records list Thiel's itemized individual contributions for the 2015 to 2016 cycle, including two contributions of 1,000,000 dollars each to committees named Fighting for Ohio Fund (August 10, 2016) and Make America Number 1 (October 26, 2016), a 250,000-dollar contribution to Trump Victory (October 6, 2016), and a 2,700-dollar contribution to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. (October 6, 2016). A 2,000,000-dollar contribution dated August 25, 2015 went to a committee named Conservative, Authentic, Responsive Leadership for You and for America.15

After the November 2016 election Trump placed Thiel on the transition team's executive committee. Thiel used the position to place Kevin Harrington as Senior Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council and a Thiel aide as White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer. The The Guardian and Politico reported in November and December 2016 that companies Thiel backed, especially Palantir Technologies, stood to benefit from the transition role.16

The Robert Mercer and Rebekah Mercer family funded Breitbart News, where Steve Bannon served as executive chairman before becoming Trump's campaign chief executive in August 2016. The Mercer Family Foundation also gave 7,460,000 dollars to the Government Accountability Institute in tax years 2013 to 2017; Bannon was the institute's chairman and Rebekah Mercer a director in its 2012 return, and the institute produced the book Clinton Cash. The family also funded Cambridge Analytica, which obtained Facebook user data through an academic researcher, Aleksandr Kogan, and used psychographic profiling in the campaign.17

The Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint against Cambridge Analytica on July 24, 2019. The Commission's opinion and final order of November 25, 2019 (Docket No. 9383) granted complaint counsel's unopposed motion for summary decision, found that the company harvested profile data from approximately 250,000 to 270,000 U.S. app users and from 50 to 65 million of their Facebook friends, and ordered it to delete or destroy the covered information and to stop misrepresenting its privacy practices and its Privacy Shield participation; the company had filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May 2018.18 The United Kingdom Information Commissioner's final letter to Parliament, dated October 2, 2020, stated that the Commissioner "did not find any additional evidence of Russian involvement" in the material on the SCL Elections and Cambridge Analytica servers, and that earlier details of reported Russia-located activity had been referred to the National Crime Agency.19 The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reported that Cambridge Analytica developers helped ingest the campaign's polling data into a visualization tool that Brad Parscale carried on an iPad.20

The Russia Investigation

The Special Counsel's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, Volume I, stated that candidate Trump signed a letter of intent for Trump Tower Moscow by November 2015, and that Trump Organization executive Michael Cohen pursued the project through at least June 2016, including by considering travel to Russia by Cohen and candidate Trump. The report places the letter of intent between approximately October 13 and November 2, 2015, signed by Trump for the Trump Organization.2122

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, in Volume 5 of its report on Russian active measures (2020), stated that Trump authorized Cohen in September 2015 to pursue the deal through Felix Sater, a longtime business associate of Trump. The committee found that Sater had senior-level ties to Russian businessmen and former officials, though it stated that he almost certainly inflated some of his claims.23

The Special Counsel's Volume II addressed obstruction. Its introduction, its executive summary and its conclusion each state: "while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him." The report adds that "if we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state," and that "we are unable to reach that judgment."24

The Supreme Court and the Leo Network

Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senate confirmed Gorsuch on April 7, 2017 by 54 to 45, Kavanaugh on October 6, 2018 by 50 to 48, and Barrett on October 26, 2020 by 52 to 48.1

Leonard Leo, the longtime executive vice president of the Federalist Society, advised Trump on all three selections, according to ProPublica, which reported on Leo's role in March 2023.25 The Judicial Crisis Network, later renamed the Concord Fund, funded campaigns for the confirmations. Leo managed the Kavanaugh confirmation strategy, and the Judicial Crisis Network and Concord Fund network spent millions of dollars on advertising and grassroots mobilization.25 The Kavanaugh confirmation followed a sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh, and the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on it. The Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade. The conservative majority that followed the three confirmations has decided cases on abortion, gun regulation, campaign finance and executive power.

The Leo and Thiel operations share the Teneo Network institutional terrain and the 501(c)(4) dark-money structure described on the Leo page.25

Palantir and the Immigration Contracts

Palantir expanded its federal contracting during the first administration. Thiel chaired Palantir throughout, placed associates on the National Security Council, and ran the Dialog convening network, a membership list of which was reported by WIRED in June 2026.26 The cluster is known as the Thiel Influence Network. Its U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracts include the FALCON database, awarded under contract HSCETC15C00001 (May 28, 2015 to May 27, 2018, about 39.3 million dollars) and continued under contract 70CTD019C00000001 (November 28, 2018 to May 27, 2022, about 37.8 million dollars), and the Investigative Case Management system, awarded as order 70CTD022FR0000170 (September 26, 2022 to September 25, 2027, about 170.8 million dollars). Palantir's ICE work also included a contract known as ELITE. In-Q-Tel had seeded Palantir's relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency, and Palantir's Gotham platform became a standard data-fusion tool across multiple agencies.27

On April 11, 2025 ICE modified order 70CTD022FR0000170 by about 29.9 million dollars; the USAspending record describes the modification as adding licenses, configuration and engineering services to deploy "new targeting and enforcement prioritization, self-deportation tracking, and immigration lifecycle process capabilities." ICE described a system called ImmigrationOS in connection with this work, to track immigrants for deportation. In May and June 2026 ICE placed two further Palantir orders, 70CTD026FC0000012 (about 86.3 million dollars, enforcement removal operations modernization for the Enforcement Case Management System) and 70CTD026FC0000018 (about 45.8 million dollars, Homeland Security Investigations system modernization).28

Anduril Industries holds contracts from Customs and Border Protection for Sentry Tower surveillance towers along the southern border, including a 363 million dollar award for extended-range towers; the deployment expanded to over 350 towers covering 30 percent of the southern border. Clearview AI, seeded by Founders Fund, supplies facial identification to CBP.29 The Palantir partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defense for "war-related missions" during the Gaza war was announced in January 2024, during the Biden administration, and is not an action of the second Trump administration. Palantir markets its Palantir Gotham platform as an "AI-powered kill chain."30

The Kushner Middle East Policy

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, led Middle East policy in the first administration. It produced the 2020 Abraham Accords normalization agreements between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. The administration recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. The accords departed from the earlier U.S. framework that had conditioned normalization on Israeli-Palestinian progress.31

The administration approved U.S.-Saudi Arabia arms sales over congressional opposition, using emergency authority to bypass congressional review. The sales went forward after the October 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The CIA was reported to have assessed with high confidence that Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's assessment dated February 11, 2021, declassified on February 25 and released on February 26, 2021, stated: "We assess that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi."32 Kushner maintained his relationship with the crown prince after the murder and kept up the WhatsApp channel that the CIA assessed as compromised; he used WhatsApp to communicate with the crown prince during his government service.31 The Guardian reported in January 2020 that Jeff Bezos's phone had been hacked in May 2018 through a file sent from the crown prince's WhatsApp account.31

After the first administration ended, the Public Investment Fund committed 2 billion dollars to Kushner's Affinity Partners. The NSO Group Pegasus spyware was used against associates of Khashoggi, according to leaked data reported in July 2021. The House Committee on Oversight opened a probe of the investment in June 2022. Its letter stated that the fund's screening panel had rated the firm's due diligence unsatisfactory before the fund's board approved the investment.33

DOGE and the Second Administration

Executive Order 14158 established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Elon Musk, on January 20, 2025.34 An April 2025 whistleblower disclosure stated that DOGE personnel had taken sensitive data from the National Labor Relations Board in what the whistleblower described as an NLRB Data Exfiltration and that a login attempt to NLRB systems came from a Russian IP address, as reported by NPR and Nextgov.35

Thiel funded the 2022 Senate campaigns of JD Vance in Ohio and Blake Masters in Arizona, at approximately fifteen million dollars each, and brokered Vance's selection as Trump's 2024 vice-presidential running mate.16

David Sacks, a former chief operating officer of PayPal and a member of the PayPal Mafia, was named in December 2024 as White House AI and cryptocurrency czar. NPR reported in October 2026 that Sacks had stepped down from the role earlier that year and become co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and that on October 4, 2026 Trump named Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton as AI czar to lead a White House "Super Intelligence Force."36 Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation policy project, was run by Paul Dans, who according to ProPublica built a personnel database of more than 10,000 vetted candidates for a second Trump term. NBC News reported that several prominent Project 2025 authors secured executive-branch roles. The Center for American Progress reported that 80 percent of the project's authors had been former Trump administration officials or close advisers, and that 140 people who worked for Trump contributed to the project. Trump publicly disavowed Project 2025 during the 2024 campaign.36

Howard Lutnick, chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, became Secretary of Commerce in February 2025. Lutnick's emails with Epstein appear in the 2026 file releases. Pam Bondi was confirmed as Attorney General on February 4, 2025, and Trump announced her departure on April 2, 2026, naming Todd Blanche acting attorney general. Blanche, whose office announced on January 30, 2026 the publication of more than 3 million additional pages and a total of nearly 3.5 million, had been Trump's personal criminal defense lawyer in the Manhattan case, and the Senate confirmed him as Attorney General on August 8, 2026 by 50 to 49.3738

The Epstein Relationship

Trump and Jeffrey Epstein socialized from the late 1980s through 2004, mostly in Palm Beach and New York. Archival NBC footage from 1992 shows the two men together at Mar-a-Lago watching dancers, with Ghislaine Maxwell present. A photograph taken at Mar-a-Lago on February 12, 2000 shows Trump, Melania Trump, Epstein and Maxwell together.39

In an October 28, 2002 profile by Landon Thomas Jr. in New York magazine, Trump, speaking by speakerphone, said: "I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."40 On July 9, 2019, asked about Epstein at the White House, Trump said: "I had a falling out with him a long time ago. I don't think I've spoken to him for 15 years." He added: "I was not a fan of his. That I can tell you."41

Epstein's address books listed multiple Trump telephone numbers. Former Epstein pilot Larry Visoski testified on November 29 and 30, 2021 that he had flown Trump on Epstein's aircraft, the Lolita Express, "more than once, I believe." Trump's name appears in the flight logs of the aircraft on domestic legs, roughly seven times by one count. No flight log entry places Trump on Little St. James.42

The relationship broke in 2004 over a Palm Beach property. In November 2004 Trump bought the oceanfront mansion Maison de l'Amitie for 41.35 million dollars. The bankruptcy trustee, Joseph Luzinski, described the two men bidding as "two very large Palm Beach egos going at it."43 Speaking at his Turnberry course in Scotland on July 28, 2025, Trump said of Epstein: "He stole people that worked for me. I said, 'Don't ever do that again.' He did it again, and I threw him out of the place, persona non grata."44

Maria Farmer, who reported Epstein to the FBI in 1996, later said that she had also flagged a 1990s encounter involving Trump; the account remains an uncorroborated allegation. Trump has denied wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.45

Trump's name also appears in the 2003 "birthday book" assembled for Epstein's fiftieth birthday. The Wall Street Journal reported in July 2025 that a letter in the book bore Trump's signature and a drawing of a nude woman. Trump denied authoring the letter, called the report fake, and filed a multibillion-dollar defamation suit against the paper.46 The staged releases, the missing "client list" that Bondi had promised, and the redactions kept the Trump-Epstein history in national coverage through the end of 2025.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act

The House passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act (H.R. 4405) on November 18, 2025, and Trump signed it on November 19, 2025 as Public Law 119-38. The statute required the Attorney General to release the unclassified records of the Department of Justice and the FBI within thirty days, and allowed withholding of material that would jeopardize an active federal investigation.2

On November 14, 2025 Trump asked the Justice Department to investigate Epstein's dealings with Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Reid Hoffman and JPMorgan Chase. Attorney General Bondi assigned the investigation to Jay Clayton that day.47

On February 14, 2026 the Justice Department sent the Senate and House Judiciary Committees a letter under section 3 of the Act, on the letterhead of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General and signed by Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. It listed all categories of records released and withheld, a summary of redactions, and a list of "all government officials and politically exposed persons" named or referenced in the released materials. The letter states that the term "politically exposed persons" was not defined in the Act, that names appear in the files "in a wide variety of contexts," and that "some individuals had extensive direct email contact with Epstein or Maxwell while other individuals are mentioned only in a portion of a document (including press reporting) that on its face is unrelated to the Epstein and Maxwell matters." The alphabetical list runs to about 300 names, from Alexander Acosta to Mark Zuckerberg, and includes Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Melania Trump, JD Vance, Jared Kushner, Howard Lutnick, Steve Bannon, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Leonard Leo, Elvis Presley, Princess Diana and Kurt Cobain.48 Ro Khanna described the list as "purposefully muddying the waters on who was a predator and who was mentioned in an email."48

The January 2026 Release Allegations

The Justice Department's January 30, 2026 release of Epstein Files included FBI interview memoranda from 2019 in which a woman told investigators that she had been sexually assaulted by Epstein and by Trump in the 1980s, when she said she was a teenager. The Justice Department stated that the files contain false and unverified claims. Trump has denied the allegations.38

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260, which Trump signed on December 27, 2020, contained the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 as Division W. Division W has no provision in its text on unidentified aerial phenomena. Its section 3 provides that the explanatory statement printed in the Congressional Record by the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees "shall have the same effect with respect to the implementation of this division as if it were a joint explanatory statement of a committee of conference."49 That explanatory statement, Part II, "incorporates by reference, and the Executive Branch shall comply with, all direction contained in the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Report to accompany the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (S. Rept. 116-233)."50 Senate Report 116-233, filed June 17, 2020 by Marco Rubio for the committee, contains a section titled "Advanced Aerial Threats." It states the committee's concern that "there is no unified, comprehensive process within the Federal Government for collecting and analyzing intelligence on unidentified aerial phenomena" and directs the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, to submit within 180 days of enactment an unclassified report, with a classified annex permitted, that includes an analysis of data held by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force at the Office of Naval Intelligence and by the FBI, an interagency collection process with a named accountable official, an assessment of foreign-adversary attribution, and recommendations.51

The statute that created the permanent office is a different law. The James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, Public Law 117-81, approved December 27, 2021 by President Joe Biden, contains section 1683, which directed the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Director of National Intelligence, to establish an office to address unidentified aerial phenomena within 180 days of enactment.52

On February 19, 2026 Trump wrote on Truth Social that, "based on the tremendous interest shown," he would be directing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other 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." The post followed his statement to a reporter that Barack Obama had given classified information when Obama said in a podcast interview that aliens were "real."53 On May 8, 2026 the Department of Defense began posting the files at war.gov/UFO, with more than 160 files covering more than 400 incidents, and said additional files would follow "on a rolling basis."54

On July 11, 2026 The Harvard Crimson reported that Avi Loeb said he had served on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology under Trump. The paper also reported that a representative of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence visited Loeb to request a group that Loeb formed as the UAP Science Advisory Council, "in support of President Trump's directive on UAP transparency."55 In August 2026 Ross Coulthart wrote on NewsNation that unnamed White House sources told him Trump "has personally authorized" a government program using the methods of the Sky Watcher organization. Coulthart attributed each statement to unnamed sources.56

Footnotes

  1. Senate roll call votes. 115th Congress, 1st Session, vote 111 (Nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch, April 7, 2017, 54 to 45). https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1151/vote_115_1_00111.xml ; vote 116 (Nomination of R. Alexander Acosta as Secretary of Labor, April 27, 2017, 60 to 38). https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1151/vote_115_1_00116.xml ; 115th Congress, 2nd Session, vote 223 (Nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh, October 6, 2018, 50 to 48). https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1152/vote_115_2_00223.xml ; 116th Congress, 2nd Session, vote 224 (Nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, October 26, 2020, 52 to 48). https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1162/vote_116_2_00224.xml ↩︎

  2. Epstein Files Transparency Act, Pub. L. No. 119-38, sections 1 to 3, 139 Stat. 656 to 658 (approved November 19, 2025; House passage November 18, Senate passage November 19). https://www.congress.gov/119/plaws/publ38/PLAW-119publ38.pdf ↩︎

  3. "Trump did open Mar-a-Lago to blacks and Jews, but in a business move, not a crusade." PolitiFact, February 11, 2020 (purchase in 1985). https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/feb/11/viral-image/trump-did-open-mar-lago-blacks-and-jews-business-m/ ; "President Donald J. Trump," The White House (Wharton School; real estate development in New York City). https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/donald-j-trump/ ↩︎

  4. "Alan 'Ace' Greenberg, who remade Bear Stearns, dies at 86." Bloomberg News, via Portland Press Herald, July 25, 2014. https://www.pressherald.com/2014/07/25/alan-ace-greenberg-who-remade-bear-stearns-dies-at-86/ ↩︎

  5. United States v. Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump and Trump Management, Inc., No. 73 C 1529 (E.D.N.Y.), civil docket (complaint filed October 15, 1973; motion to dismiss and counterclaim filed December 12, 1973; motion to dismiss counterclaim January 8, 1974; argument January 25, 1974; entries on affidavits of Donald Trump and Roy Cohn, plaintiff's motion for sanctions and notice of deposition of Donald Trump). Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, document 82945. https://clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/doc/82945.pdf ↩︎

  6. United States v. Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump and Trump Management, Inc., Consent Order, No. 73 C 1529 (E.D.N.Y. June 10, 1975) (Neaher, J.), parts I to IV and signature page (Roy M. Cohn, Saxe, Bacon, Bolan & Manley, for defendants; Frank E. Schwelb, Chief, Housing Section, Civil Rights Division, for plaintiff). Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, document 83283. https://clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/doc/83283.pdf ; Order to Show Cause, June 10, 1975, document 83277. https://clearinghouse-umich-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media/doc/83277.pdf ↩︎

  7. "United States v. Fred C. Trump, Donald Trump, and Trump Management, Inc.," case summary, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, University of Michigan Law School (39 buildings, more than 14,000 apartments; tester evidence; retention of Roy Cohn; counterclaim of 100 million dollars for defamation dismissed by Judge Neaher; FBI investigation records released in 2017). https://clearinghouse.net/case/15342/ ↩︎

  8. United States v. Rosenberg, 195 F.2d 583 (2d Cir. Feb. 25, 1952) (counsel: Myles J. Lane, with Roy M. Cohn of counsel, for the United States). https://static.case.law/f2d/195/cases/0583-01.json ↩︎

  9. U.S. Senate, Committee on Governmental Affairs, Executive Sessions of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, vol. 1, S. Prt. 107-84 (made public January 2003), "Subcommittee Staff Appointed in 1953-1954" (Roy M. Cohn, chief counsel, January 15, 1953 to August 13, 1954). https://www.senate.gov/about/resources/pdf/mccarthy-hearings-volume1.pdf ↩︎

  10. "Trump Sues the Justice Department for $100 Million," The Nation (the judge "dismissed the counterclaim two months after it was filed"). https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/justice-department-trump-lawsuit/ ↩︎

  11. "How Donald Trump and Roy Cohn fought the race discrimination lawsuit," excerpt from The Choice 2024: Harris vs. Trump, PBS FRONTLINE, September 24, 2024 (David Marcus; Ken Auletta). https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/donald-trump-roy-cohn-race-discrimination-lawsuit-fight-documentary-excerpt ↩︎

  12. Matter of Cohn, 118 A.D.2d 15, 503 N.Y.S.2d 759 (1st Dep't June 23, 1986) (per curiam) (charges I to IV; disbarment). https://static.case.law/ad2d/118/cases/0015-01.json ; https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6021889/in-re-cohn/ ↩︎

  13. "Roy Cohn," Part 01 of 01, FBI Records: The Vault, 748 pages. https://vault.fbi.gov/roy-cohn (archived January 18, 2021: https://web.archive.org/web/20210118074105/https://vault.fbi.gov/roy-cohn) ↩︎

  14. Program of the B'nai B'rith Banking and Finance Lodge State of Israel Bond tribute dinner for Roy M. Cohn, with Ronald Reagan's message of May 2, 1983, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, White House Office of Records Management subject file ME001. https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/whormsubject/me001/40-654-12019891-024-009-2018.pdf ↩︎

  15. Federal Election Commission, Schedule A itemized individual contributions, contributor name THIEL, PETER, two-year transaction period 2016 (retrieved October 12, 2026 through the FEC API). Entries cited: Fighting for Ohio Fund, August 10, 2016, 1,000,000; Make America Number 1, October 26, 2016, 1,000,000; Trump Victory, October 6, 2016, 250,000; Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., October 6, 2016, 2,700; Conservative, Authentic, Responsive Leadership for You and for America, August 25, 2015, 2,000,000. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/ ↩︎

  16. "Peter Thiel goes 'big league', joining Trump's presidential transition team." The Guardian, November 11, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/11/peter-thiel-joins-donald-trump-transition-team ; "Thiel could gain from Trump transition." Politico, December 2016. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/peter-thiel-trump-transition-benefits-232233 ; "Who Is Kevin Harrington, the Peter Thiel Associate Who Just Joined the National Security Council Staff?" Gizmodo, February 2017. https://gizmodo.com/who-is-kevin-harrington-the-peter-thiel-associate-who-1791925769 ↩︎

  17. Jim Zarroli, "Billionaire Investor Robert Mercer To Step Down From Firm, Selling Stake In Breitbart." NPR, November 2, 2017. https://www.kpbs.org/news/2017/nov/02/billionaire-investor-robert-mercer-steps-down ; Government Accountability Institute (EIN 45-4681912), Form 990 for 2012, Part VII (Bannon, chairman; Rebekah Mercer, director). https://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/454/454681912/454681912_201212_990.pdf ; Mercer Family Foundation (EIN 20-1982204), grants to the Government Accountability Institute, tax years 2013 to 2017, ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/201982204 ; Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Volume 5, pp. 664 to 667 (SCL, Cambridge Analytica and the Mercer family). https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf ↩︎

  18. Federal Trade Commission, In the Matter of Cambridge Analytica, LLC, Docket No. 9383: Complaint (July 24, 2019), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/182_3107_cambridge_analytica_administrative_complaint_7-24-19.pdf ; Opinion of the Commission and Final Order (issued November 25, 2019; announced December 6, 2019), https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/d09389_comm_final_opinionpublic.pdf and https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/d09389_comm_final_orderpublic.pdf ; press release, https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2019/12/ftc-issues-opinion-order-against-cambridge-analytica-deceiving-consumers-about-collection-facebook ↩︎

  19. Information Commissioner's Office, letter from Elizabeth Denham to Julian Knight MP, Chair, Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, "ICO investigation into use of personal information and political influence," October 2, 2020 (ref. ICO/O/ED/L/RTL/0181), paragraph 9. https://ico.org.uk/media2/migrated/2618383/20201002_ico-o-ed-l-rtl-0181_to-julian-knight-mp.pdf ↩︎

  20. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities, notes 447 and 448 (Parscale testimony on the polling data visualization tool and Cambridge Analytica developers). https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf ↩︎

  21. Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, Volume I, Executive Summary, p. 5 (March 2019). https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl ↩︎

  22. Mueller Report, Volume I, section IV.A.1.c.i, "Trump Signs the Letter of Intent on behalf of the Trump Organization," p. 70 (letter of intent completed between approximately October 13 and November 2, 2015). https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl ↩︎

  23. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities, Executive Summary, "Trump Tower Moscow," p. ix (116th Congress). https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf ↩︎

  24. Mueller Report, Volume II, Introduction, p. 2; Executive Summary, p. 8; and section IV, Conclusion, p. 182 (the same two sentences appear in each). https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl ↩︎

  25. "We Don't Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right's Supreme Court Supermajority." ProPublica, March 2023. https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority ↩︎

  26. "Leak exposes members of Peter Thiel's secretive Dialog society." WIRED, June 16, 2026. https://www.wired.com/story/leak-exposes-members-of-peter-thiels-secretive-dialog-society/ ; "CBP to strengthen 'tactical targeting,' 'counter-network analysis' with Clearview AI." FedScoop, 2026. https://fedscoop.com/dhs-cbp-contract-biometric-facial-recognition-ai/ ↩︎

  27. USAspending.gov award records, recipient Palantir Technologies Inc., awarding sub-agency U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (retrieved October 12, 2026 through the USAspending API): HSCETC15C00001, "FALCON operations and maintenance (O&M), system enhancement," 39,340,900.82 dollars, May 28, 2015 to May 27, 2018 (CONT_AWD_HSCETC15C00001_7012_-NONE--NONE-); 70CTD019C00000001, "FALCON O&M support services," 37,839,725.17 dollars, November 28, 2018 to May 27, 2022 (CONT_AWD_70CTD019C00000001_7012-NONE-_-NONE-); 70CTD022FR0000170, "Investigative Case Management (ICM) operations and maintenance support services and custom enhancements," 170,765,322.37 dollars, September 26, 2022 to September 25, 2027 (CONT_AWD_70CTD022FR0000170_7012_GS35F0086U_4730). https://www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_AWD_70CTD022FR0000170_7012_GS35F0086U_4730 ; EPIC v. ICE FOIA litigation on ICE-Palantir databases. https://epic.org/documents/epic-v-ice-palantir-databases/ ↩︎

  28. USAspending.gov transaction record, award 70CTD022FR0000170, action date April 11, 2025, 29,898,236 dollars (retrieved through the USAspending API); awards 70CTD026FC0000012 (start May 5, 2026, 86,271,599.30 dollars; CONT_AWD_70CTD026FC0000012_7012_70RTAC26A00000001_7001) and 70CTD026FC0000018 (start June 26, 2026, 45,848,616.80 dollars; CONT_AWD_70CTD026FC0000018_7012_70RTAC26A00000001_7001). https://api.usaspending.gov/api/v2/search/spending_by_award/ ; "ICE to Use ImmigrationOS by Palantir, a New AI System, to Track Immigrants' Movements." American Immigration Council, April 2025. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/ice-immigrationos-palantir-ai-track-immigrants/ ↩︎

  29. "Anduril Wins $363M CBP Contract for XR Sentry Towers." Tectonic Defense. https://www.tectonic-defense.com/anduril-wins-363m-cbp-contract-for-xr-sentry-towers/ ; "Anduril Surveillance Towers," U.S. Customs and Border Protection FOIA record. https://www.cbp.gov/document/foia-record/anduril-surveillance-towers ; "CBP to strengthen 'tactical targeting,' 'counter-network analysis' with Clearview AI." FedScoop, 2026. https://fedscoop.com/dhs-cbp-contract-biometric-facial-recognition-ai/ ↩︎

  30. "Palantir, Israel Agree Strategic Partnership for Battle Tech." Bloomberg, January 12, 2024. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-12/palantir-israel-agree-to-strategic-partnership ↩︎

  31. "Jared Kushner, Mohammed bin Salman, and the Making of the Trump-Saudi Alliance." The Intercept, March 21, 2018. https://theintercept.com/2018/03/21/jared-kushner-saudi-crown-prince-mohammed-bin-salman/ ; "Jared Kushner used WhatsApp to message foreign contacts in White House." ABC News. https://abcnews.com/Politics/jared-kushner-whatsapp-foreign-contacts-lawyer-tells-congress/story?id=61843329 ; "Amazon boss Jeff Bezos's phone 'hacked by Saudi crown prince.'" The Guardian, January 21, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/21/amazon-boss-jeff-bezoss-phone-hacked-by-saudi-crown-prince ↩︎

  32. Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Assessing the Saudi Government's Role in the Killing of Jamal Khashoggi, February 11, 2021 (declassified by the Director of National Intelligence on February 25, 2021 and released February 26, 2021), Executive Summary. https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Assessment-Saudi-Gov-Role-in-JK-Death-20210226v2.pdf ↩︎

  33. "Chairwoman Maloney Launches Probe of Saudi Government's $2 Billion Investment in Affinity Partners." House Committee on Oversight, June 2, 2022. https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/chairwoman-maloney-launches-probe-of-saudi-government-s-2-billion-investment-in ; Wyden investigation of Affinity Partners, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-investigation-of-kushner-firm-continues-new-letter-outlines-affinity-partners-fee-structure-lack-of-return-to-investors-ques ; "NSO spyware used to target family of Jamal Khashoggi, leaked data shows." The Guardian, July 18, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/nso-spyware-used-to-target-family-of-jamal-khashoggi-leaked-data-shows-saudis-pegasus ↩︎

  34. Executive Order 14158, "Establishing and Implementing the President's 'Department of Government Efficiency'" (signed January 20, 2025). Federal Register. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/29/2025-02005/establishing-and-implementing-the-presidents-department-of-government-efficiency ↩︎

  35. "Whistleblower details how DOGE may have taken sensitive NLRB data." NPR, April 15, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security ; "User with Russian IP address tried to log into NLRB systems following DOGE access, whistleblower says." Nextgov/FCW, April 2025. https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2025/04/user-russian-ip-address-tried-log-nlrb-systems-following-doge-access-whistleblower-says/404574/ ↩︎

  36. Statement by President-elect Donald J. Trump Announcing the Appointment of David O. Sacks as "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar," December 5, 2024, The American Presidency Project. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-president-elect-donald-j-trump-announcing-the-appointment-david-o-sacks-white ; Chandelis Duster, "Trump names national intelligence chief Jay Clayton as new AI czar." NPR, October 4, 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/10/04/nx-s1-5990781/jay-clayton-ai-czar-trump ; "Paul Dans, the Man Behind Project 2025's Most Radical Plans." ProPublica. https://www.propublica.org/article/project-2025-trump-campaign-heritage-foundation-paul-dans ; "The key Project 2025 authors now staffing the Trump administration." NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/key-project-2025-authors-now-staffing-trump-administration-rcna195107 ↩︎

  37. "Trump fires Pam Bondi as attorney general, installs Todd Blanche as acting AG." CBS News, April 2, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-pam-bondi-attorney-general/ ; U.S. Senate, Roll Call Votes 119th Congress, 2nd Session, Nos. 229 (cloture) and 230 (confirmation), Todd Blanche to be Attorney General, August 8, 2026. https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1192/vote_119_2_00230.htm ; "Senate votes to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general." NPR, August 8, 2026. https://www.npr.org/2026/08/08/g-s1-137631/senate-confirms-todd-blanche-attorney-general ; Ruetenik, Daniel, and Graham Kates. "Lutnick and Epstein were in business together, Epstein files show." CBS News, updated February 7, 2026. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/howard-lutnick-jeffrey-epstein-in-business-together/ ; "Howard Lutnick," U.S. Department of Commerce. https://www.commerce.gov/about/leadership/howard-lutnick ↩︎

  38. "Epstein files live updates: Trump DOJ releases millions more pages of records." NBC News, January 30, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/live-blog/epstein-files-trump-doj-release-live-updates-rcna256639 ; "DOJ releases FBI memos detailing woman's allegation against Trump in Epstein probe." The Wire, 2026. https://ticklethewire.com/doj-releases-fbi-memos-detailing-womans-allegation-against-trump-in-epstein-probe/ ↩︎

  39. "Trump and Epstein: A Timeline of Their Relationship." Time, 2025 (1992 NBC footage; photograph of February 12, 2000). https://time.com/7333365/trump-epstein-relationship-timeline/ ↩︎

  40. Landon Thomas Jr., "Jeffrey Epstein: International Moneyman of Mystery." New York, October 28, 2002. https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/n_7912/ (archived May 21, 2011: https://web.archive.org/web/20110521191003/http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/n_7912/) ↩︎

  41. "Trump defends embattled Acosta, says he had a 'falling out' with Jeffrey Epstein 'a long time ago.'" NBC News, July 9, 2019. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-defends-embattled-acosta-says-he-had-falling-out-jeffrey-n1027861 ↩︎

  42. Lauren del Valle and Eric Levenson, "Jeffrey Epstein's former pilot testifies Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, Prince Andrew flew aboard Epstein's private plane," CNN, November 30, 2021. https://abc17news.com/news/national-world/cnn-national/2021/11/30/prosecution-links-ghislaine-maxwell-to-jeffrey-epstein-while-defense-says-she-is-being-blamed-for-his-actions/ ; "Trump called Epstein a 'terrific guy' who enjoyed 'younger' women before denying relationship with him." Washington Post, July 8, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-called-epstein-a-terrific-guy-before-denying-relationship-with-him/2019/07/08/a01e0f00-a1be-11e9-bd56-eac6bb02d01d_story.html ↩︎

  43. "Trump and Epstein: A Timeline of Their Relationship." Time, 2025 (2004 Maison de l'Amitie bidding; trustee Joseph Luzinski quoted by the Washington Post). https://time.com/7333365/trump-epstein-relationship-timeline/ ↩︎

  44. "What we know about the Trump-Epstein falling out." PolitiFact, July 31, 2025. https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/jul/31/what-we-know-about-the-trump-epstein-falling-out/ ; "President Donald Trump explains why he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago." Fox News, 2025. https://www.foxnews.com/us/jeffrey-epstein-thrown-out-mar-a-lago-hiring-help-trump ↩︎

  45. "Maria Farmer and Marsh Law Firm's Persistent Advocacy Vindicated as FBI Releases Farmer's 1996 Report on Jeffrey Epstein." Marsh Law Firm, December 23, 2025 (the 1996 FBI report). https://www.jamesmarshlaw.com/persistent-advocacy-vindicated/ ; Trump's denial: "What we know about the Trump-Epstein falling out." PolitiFact, July 31, 2025. https://www.politifact.com/article/2025/jul/31/what-we-know-about-the-trump-epstein-falling-out/ ↩︎

  46. "Birthday letter to Epstein bore Trump's signature, drawing of naked woman, Wall Street Journal reports." CNN, July 17, 2025. https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/17/politics/epstein-birthday-letter-trump ↩︎

  47. "Bondi taps acting U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to probe Democrats' ties to Epstein." The Washington Times, November 14, 2025. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/nov/14/bondi-taps-acting-us-attorney-jay-clayton-probe-democrats-ties/ ; Epstein Files Transparency Act, Pub. L. No. 119-38. ↩︎

  48. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, letter to Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin, Chairman Jordan and Ranking Member Raskin, "Re: Epstein Files Transparency Act, Section 3 Report to Congress," February 14, 2026, pages 1 to 6 (signed Pamela J. Bondi, United States Attorney General, and Todd Blanche, Deputy United States Attorney General). https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1434856/dl ; coverage in "Justice Department lists hundreds of prominent people named in Epstein files in letter to Congress." CNN, February 15, 2026. https://kvia.com/politics/cnn-us-politics/2026/02/15/justice-department-lists-hundreds-of-prominent-people-named-in-epstein-files-in-letter-to-congress/ ↩︎

  49. Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, Pub. L. No. 116-260, approved December 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 1182; Division W, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, section 3 ("Explanatory statement"), 134 Stat. 2362 to 2363. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-116publ260/pdf/PLAW-116publ260.pdf ↩︎

  50. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Explanation of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Division W, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021), Part II, Select Unclassified Congressional Direction, December 21, 2020. https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-filesations-iaa-fy21-jes-final-2-12-15-20.pdf ↩︎

  51. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, S. Rept. 116-233 (to accompany S. 3905), June 17, 2020, "Advanced Aerial Threats," pp. 11 to 12. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CRPT-116srpt233/pdf/CRPT-116srpt233.pdf ↩︎

  52. James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022, Pub. L. No. 117-81, section 1683, "Establishment of office, organizational structure, and authorities to address unidentified aerial phenomena" (approved December 27, 2021). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-117publ81/pdf/PLAW-117publ81.pdf ↩︎

  53. "Trump says he's directing the Pentagon to release files related to UFOs and aliens." NBC News, February 19, 2026 (quoting Trump's Truth Social post). https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-says-directing-pentagon-release-files-related-ufos-aliens-rcna259833 ↩︎

  54. "Pentagon releases declassified UFO files including videos and photos held by the government for decades." NBC News, May 8, 2026. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/ufos-and-anomalous-phenomena/ufo-uap-files-pentagon-release-trump-rcna344204 ↩︎

  55. Neil H. Shah, Theresa F. Bartelme and Risha Sinha, "Inside Avi Loeb's New UAP Council, Built From His Harvard Orbit." The Harvard Crimson, July 11, 2026. https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/7/11/avi-loeb-uap-council/ ↩︎

  56. Ross Coulthart, "Is the Trump administration running a covert UFO program?," NewsNation Reality Check, about August 2026. https://www.newsnationnow.com/podcasts-newsnation/reality-check/trump-administration-covert-ufo-program/amp/ ↩︎