US President Donald Trump has announced plans to declassify and release previously undisclosed government information about extraterrestrial life. The announcement follows former President Barack Obama's notable comments in which he stopped short of denying the existence of alien life forms.

Trump took to his Truth Social platform to share the news, stating that he would be directing the Secretary of Defence and other relevant government bodies to begin identifying and releasing classified documents on topics including alien and extraterrestrial life, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), along with any other related material.

"Given the tremendous interest shown," Trump wrote, "I will instruct the Secretary of Defence and other relevant Departments and Agencies to begin the process of identifying and releasing government documents related to alien and extraterrestrial life... God bless America!"

Obama's statements on aliens

It was Barack Obama who gave rise to new speculation about the presence of alien life in the universe.During an interview with US podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, responding to a question about UFOs, Obama said: "They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in Area 51. There’s no underground facility."

"These few words were enough to set off a media frenzy and fuel the already widespread theories about the existence of extraterrestrial life. The statement was echoed all over the world, so much so that Obama was forced to make a further statement.

"I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention let me clarify," he wrote on Instagram.

He added, "Statistically, the Universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!"

"Trump: 'Obama made a big mistake'

An operation that certainly did not go well. Donald Trump also commented on Obama's statements aboard Air Force One.

**"**Well, he gave classified information. He's not supposed to be doing that,” Trump said in response to reporters' questions.

"I don’t know if they’re real or not. I can tell you, he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that – he made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information," Trump added.

On the existence of UFOs, the US president said he had no opinion on the matter, but that he was prepared to release classified information to get Obama off the hook.

'What have I done,' podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen later wrote wryly on X.

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Trump says government will declassify information on aliens after Obama's statements