Trump orders declassification of Amelia Earhart files nearly 90 years after disappearance
White House says records related to Earhart’s final flight will be declassified and released to the public
President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he will declassify and release all government records related to Amelia Earhart, the aviation pioneer who vanished during a 1937 attempt to fly around the world, nearly 90 years ago.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he is ordering his administration to declassify and release all government records related to Amelia Earhart, her final trip, and everything else about her. "I am ordering my Administration to declassify and release all Government Records related to Amelia Earhart, her final trip, and everything else about her. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" the post quoted the president as saying. The White House did not immediately provide a timetable for when the records would be released, and officials cautioned that the scope and pace of the declassification would depend on the review process. The records are described as materials held by federal agencies that touch on Earhart and her final flight, including potentially decades of correspondence, investigative files, and maintenance logs.
Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937, with flight navigator Fred Noonan during a bold bid to circumnavigate the globe. The Lockheed 10-E Electra vanished while searching for a landing spot near Howland Island after running low on fuel. The U.S. Navy and Coast Guard mounted an unprecedented search that accounted for a large portion of government resources at the time; by today’s standards, historians estimate the cost would be in the hundreds of millions, with the final tally adjusted to reflect inflation. Earhart was declared legally dead in 1939, about 18 months after she disappeared. The mystery surrounding her fate has persisted for decades and fueled a wide range of theories.
The move to declassify is part of a broader pattern under the Trump administration of releasing previously sealed government records. Officials have noted that the administration has previously opened troves of material related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., among other historical cases. The Earhart release, if it proceeds, could add new dimensions to public understanding of early aviation, federal investigations into her disappearance, and the decision-making surrounding the international search efforts at the time.
The decision also reflects longstanding public interest in Earhart’s story and in the transparency of government archives. Researchers and historians have long called for broader access to records that could shed light on the circumstances of her disappearance, the support behind the search, and the day-to-day operations of the agencies involved. While declassification can reveal new details, many questions about Earhart’s fate may remain unresolved, given the loss of the aircraft and the passage of time.
A recent note of context from the search-and-exploration community highlighted the enduring mystery. Last year, a deep-sea expedition released sonar images of a plane-shaped object near the area where Earhart’s Lockheed 10-E Electra is believed to have gone down; subsequent analysis concluded the object was a rock. That episode underscores both the enduring public interest in Earhart’s final hours and the limits of what even extensive investigations can determine without corroborating physical evidence. The release of additional records could either reinforce prevailing explanations or reopen old debates about what happened on the radio, on the surface, and in the air during Earhart’s final flight.
If and when the files are released, historians, aviation researchers, and members of Earhart’s family could gain access to records that illuminate flight plans, communications, maintenance histories, navigation notes, and the day-to-day operations of the search response. Such material could help to clarify what authorities knew in real time and how decisions were made during the critical days of the disappearance. The process may unfold in phases and will likely attract renewed public attention to Earhart’s legacy as a pioneering aviatrix who helped redefine women’s roles in the mid-20th century, even as the mystery surrounding her final hours remains unresolved.
Officials did not provide a specific schedule for the declassification, and it was unclear how quickly the records would be released or how extensively redactions would be applied. Still, the announcement signals a renewed openness to the government’s historical files and a willingness to let the public reassess one of aviation’s most enduring mysteries. In the meantime, Earhart’s name remains associated with perseverance, curiosity, and a historical moment when the United States sought to chart the unknown, both in the skies and in its own archives.
