MAGA Furiously Scrambles to Make ‘Alien Files’ the New Epstein Files
All it took was a 65-word post on Truth Social.

Nathan Howard/Getty Images
Donald Trump’s out-of-left-field announcement that he’s ordered the release of government files on alien life has set off a frenzied hype operation by his MAGA allies.
The president announced the move in a vague, 65-word post on Truth Social late Thursday, declaring that he’d ordered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “begin the process of identifying and releasing” government files on extraterrestrial life along with other government agencies. He framed it as a brave move to bring transparency to “extremely interesting and important matters.”
His announcement sent some of his top supporters into an absolute frenzy. “OUT OF THIS WORLD NEWS from President Trump,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote, sharing a screenshot of the president’s post.
“👽🫡,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added.

Leavitt was quick to trumpet the president's post on X.
X/Karoline Leavitt
“Tonight, President Trump is directing a full disclosure of UAP and UFO files,” wrote Rep. Nancy Mace, who has otherwise been at the forefront of a push for the government to release more Epstein files. “In October, I wrote to DoD, CIA, NSA, and DNI demanding exactly that. The truth belongs to the people.”

Trump has charged Hegseth, along with "other relevant Departments and Agencies," with locating and releasing the new information.
X/Pete Hegseth
Reps. Tim Burchett and Eric Burlinson both thanked the president, writing that “it’s time” and “the public has a right to know what their government knows.”
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“Thank you POTUS!” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna added. “As the Chairwoman of the Task Force that investigates these subjects, we are incredibly grateful for you doing this! I look forward to going through all the footage, photos, and reports with the public!”
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MAGA influencers also jumped in on social media to hype the promised release of what Benny Johnson dubbed the “Alien Files.”

Trump's move comes after Obama sparked frenzied speculation with comments in a podcast over the weekend.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Trump’s move seemed designed to seize on the momentum of viral comments made by former President Barack Obama last weekend, however. Obama sparked frantic speculation about the possibility of life on other planets during an appearance on the Brian Tyler Cohen podcast.
“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” he said. “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.”
The possibility of extraterrestrial life in other corners of the known universe, and in particular encounters with those beings here on Earth, has long proven a subject of conspiracy theories ranging from the mundane to the bizarre and downright laughable.
Some believe the U.S. government has long held evidence of alien activity but chosen to quietly classify those discoveries to avoid global panic and geopolitical chaos.
Others, that ancient civilizations received technological guidance from otherworldly visitors regarded as gods by their human hosts, that the earth is in fact a single exhibit in a vast alien zoo, or that the world’s governments are in fact merely puppets to a malicious species of intergalactic reptilian beings.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
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