The Legal Gap In Trump's UFO Announcement

President Trump posted on Thursday night directing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to begin identifying and releasing government files related to UAPs, alien and extraterrestrial life, and UFOs. The announcement generated significant attention, but the wording of the post carries an important legal limitation. Trump did not sign an executive order and did not use the word declassify. Without those steps, federal agencies including the Pentagon carry no binding legal obligation to open anything. You could not even file a Freedom of Information Act request today and cite Trump’s post as legal grounds for release.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand released a formal statement on February 20th calling the announcement good news and urging the administration to follow through. Gillibrand was a key architect of AARO, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, established through the National Defense Authorization Act in 2022 to investigate UAP reports across military and intelligence domains. Notably, AARO is currently more than two years overdue on reports it was mandated to deliver to Congress, which raises questions about institutional follow-through regardless of political momentum.

Kirsten Gillibrand’s formal statement

Representative Anna Paulina Luna addressed a structural problem that no announcement has yet resolved. Speaking on Fox News she confirmed that she, Representative Matt Gaetz, and Representative Tim Burchett were denied access to classified UAP information during a congressional delegation visit. Elected officials with legal oversight responsibilities being turned away from taxpayer-funded programs is, in her words, something that cannot exist in a free and fair society.

Luis Elizondo, with of the Pentagon’s Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program, AATIP, told NewsNation the announcement represents a declaration of intent, not a result. He laid out specific markers to watch for real action: a signed executive order with clear legal requirements, a National Intelligence Estimate sponsored by the Director of National Intelligence, and UAP addressed by name within a new National Intelligence Strategy. He also noted there are individuals currently inside the administration who are genuinely motivated to move this forward, based on private conversations he has had.

Ross Coulthart also identified a gap that the current announcement does not address. Trump’s review applies to government files. But according to Coulthart and multiple sources, a significant portion of evidence and recovered materials is held by private aerospace contractors including Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Raytheon. Those companies are under no legal obligation to release anything based on what has been announced. Coulthart’s sources within the legacy program have also suggested the deepest reason disclosure has not happened across any administration is financial. Claims persist that the U.S. has cracked zero point energy, energy extracted from the quantum vacuum. If true, releasing that information would fundamentally undermine the U.S. petrodollar system, the economic foundation that allows the country to carry a debt now exceeding 36 trillion dollars. That is not a military secret. That is an economic one, and it cuts across every administration regardless of party.

Sources

Fox News| WATCH: Rep Luna says “the government. . . (n.d.). https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=946380801169392

NewsNation. (2026, February 21). Trump’s promised UFO disclosure a potential Pandora’s Box: Whistleblower | CUOMO [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WEyGWdlESA

Rosenfeld, N. (2026, February 20). Gillibrand statement on UAP disclosure. Kirsten Gillibrand | U.S. Senator for New York. https://www.gillibrand.senate.gov/news/press/release/gillibrand-statement-on-uap-disclosure/

Ross Coulthart. (2026, February 21). TRUMP’S UFO DISCLOSURE DIRECTIVE | Ross & Meagan’s instant reaction [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmNWzMTvqdc