White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded candidly when asked whether U.S. President Donald Trump‘s beliefs in aliens.
”A speech on aliens would be news to me. That sounds very exciting, though,” Leavitt responded when questioned by Newsmax’s correspondent Mike Carter.
She continued, ”That would be of great interest to me personally, and I’m sure all of you in this room, and apparently former President Obama too. So we’ll keep you posted on that.”
🚨 JUST IN — REPORTER: Barack Obama was asked if aliens are real, he says, ‘they’re real!’ Lara Trump said the president has a prepared speech on aliens. Is that true? Does Trump believe aliens are real?
KAROLINE LEAVITT: “A speech on aliens would be news to me…that would be… pic.twitter.com/qB8cM6tD5X
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 18, 2026
The question arose after Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, recently claimed that the president had a speech prepared on aliens, per The Associated Press.
Karoline Leavitt’s comments follow former U.S. President Barack Obama‘s discussion of the existence of aliens on the February 14, 2026, podcast with Brian Tyler Cohen.
When Tyler asked the former president, “Are aliens real?” during a rapid-fire round, in response, he said, “They’re real. But I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in Area 51.”
”There’s no underground facility unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States,” he added.
The 44th U.S. President’s remarks on aliens sparked mixed reactions online, prompting him to clarify his comments in an Instagram post shared on February 15.
”I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention, let me clarify. 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 are low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!” he wrote.
Later, Trump himself addressed aliens’ existence aboard Air Force One, stating, “I don’t know if they’re real or not.” He also spoke about Obama’s remarks, and accused him of disclosing classified information.
”I may get him out of trouble by declassifying,” added the President.
President Trump on Obama saying Aliens are real: “He gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake giving out classified information…
Reporter: “We know illegal aliens are real.”
Trump: “Only illegal…”🤣 pic.twitter.com/8dg7Jz1VGd
— Grokius Maximus ⚔️ (@alx) February 19, 2026
Trump also admitted that he doesn’t have an “opinion” on extraterrestrial life, adding “I never talk about it. A lot of people do. A lot of people believe it.”
Subsequently, on Thursday night, the president revealed that he will be ordering 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.”
”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), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
