WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Thursday he is ordering federal agencies to begin "identifying and releasing" government files related to UFOs and aliens, a move sought for decades by some Americans.

"Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and 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)," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

While he did not specify whether classified documents would be released to the public, Trump added that the files should include "any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters."

Earlier in the day the Republican president claimed that one of his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama, had revealed "classified" information in his recent viral podcast remarks about the existence of extraterrestrial life.

"They're real, but I haven't seen them and they're not being kept in... Area 51," Obama told host Brian Tyler Cohen, referring to the top-secret US military facility in Nevada at the heart of many UFO conspiracy theories.

"There's no underground facility. Unless, there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States."

Asked on Thursday about the comments, Trump told reporters that Obama "gave classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that."

The president did not specify what part of Obama's remarks were classified, but claimed "he made a big mistake."

For his own beliefs about aliens, Trump, 79, said "I don't know if they are real or not."

No evidence has been produced of intelligent life beyond Earth.

Interest in UFOs and UAP has been renewed in recent years as the US government probed numerous reports of seemingly supernatural aircraft, amid worries that adversaries could be testing highly advanced technologies.

In March 2024, the Pentagon released a report saying it had no proof that UAP were alien technology, with many suspicious sightings turning out to be merely weather balloons, spy planes, satellites and other normal activity.

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X files? Trump says he's ordering release of data on UFOs and aliens