President Donald Trump says his administration will begin releasing government files on aliens, UFOs and unidentified aerial phenomena — a promise that has stirred fresh debate about what Washington knows, and what it does not. However, Elon Musk’s daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, is not buying Trump’s sudden interest in all things extra-terrestrial and has called the president out.
The announcement, posted on Truth Social, came after renewed public interest in extraterrestrial life and recent remarks from former President Barack Obama about the possibility of life beyond Earth.
Trump wrote that, “based on the tremendous interest shown,” he would direct relevant departments to identify and release files tied to “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).” He called the subject “extremely interesting and important” and ended the message with “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Feb 19 2026, 8:13 PM ET )
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… pic.twitter.com/AEmrs3vPll
— Donald J Trump Posts TruthSocial (@TruthTrumpPost) February 20, 2026
The pledge builds on a conversation Trump had during the 2024 campaign. In an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, he said UFO disclosure was not a personal priority but acknowledged that military pilots had told him about strange sightings. “I interviewed jet pilots that were solid people,” he said. “And they said, ‘We saw things, sir, that were very strange.’”
The federal government has, in fact, been slowly releasing material on the topic for years. The Pentagon established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022 to investigate reports of UAP. NASA also published an independent study in 2023 concluding there is no evidence that UAP sightings are extraterrestrial in origin, while urging better data collection. Decades earlier, the Air Force’s Project Blue Book reviewed more than 12,000 UFO reports before closing in 1969.
Trump’s new directive suggests a broader release could be ahead, though no timeline has been provided.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt seems to be sending messages with her facial expressions as Trump is asked about Obama’s comments on aliens being real. 👀 #ufox #ufotwitter pic.twitter.com/PW7Y3qxQDv
— Tom Thompson🛸 (ＣＯＲＴＥＸ ＺＥＲＯ) (@Cortex_Zero) February 19, 2026
Into that swirl stepped Vivian Jenna Wilson, the estranged daughter of billionaire Elon Musk. Wilson, who legally changed her name and gender in 2022 and has publicly distanced herself from her father, reacted to Trump’s post on Threads.
“Not to put my tinfoil hat on, but I think this alien bu—— is a distraction from the Epstein Files,” she wrote on Threads via UNILAD.
Her comment quickly circulated across social media platforms, drawing thousands of responses.
The White House responded to media inquiries by reiterating that Trump has been “totally exonerated” in matters related to Jeffrey Epstein. A spokesperson cited the administration’s cooperation with congressional requests and support for transparency measures.
OBAMA : There are aliens.
TRUMP : Too bad. He shouldn’t have let the classified information out.
ELON MUSK: “We have 9000 satellites up there, and not once have we had to maneuver around an alien spaceship.” pic.twitter.com/6Q2ven5qnW
— Karthik Reddy (@bykarthikreddy) February 20, 2026
Wilson’s reaction adds another layer to a family already closely linked to space headlines. Her father leads SpaceX, the private aerospace company behind the Falcon 9 rocket and the Starship program. Musk himself has occasionally joked about aliens on X, the social media platform he owns, once posting that he had seen “no evidence” of extraterrestrials despite launching rockets into orbit.
Vivian Wilson has taken a different public path. Since separating from her father, she has spoken openly about her transition and her political views. Her posts often blend sarcasm with pointed commentary, and this latest entry followed that pattern.
Meanwhile, the broader question of alien life remains a fixture of American curiosity. As Obama clarified after his own recent podcast comments, the odds are strong that life exists somewhere in the vast cosmos, but that does not mean it has visited Nevada.
For now, Trump’s promised document release has no confirmed date. The files, when and if they appear, will land in a country that has spent generations scanning the skies — sometimes with telescopes, sometimes with radar, and sometimes with raised eyebrows.
