Trump plans to release classified JFK assassination documents

Donald Trump has given the green light for secret documents relating to the assassination of John F Kennedy to be made public.

The US president said "subject to receipt of further information", he would allow never before seen classified files - due to be published next week - to go public.

Announcing the move, he tweeted: "Subject to the receipt of further information, I will be allowing, as President, the long blocked and classified JFK FILES to be opened."

The White House said in a statement to internet title Politico earlier this week that it was working "to ensure that the maximum amount of data can be released to the public" by next week's deadline.

In total the National Archives' cache include more than 3,000 documents that have never been seen by the public and more than 30,000 files that have been previously released with redactions.

Kennedy was elected as the 35th President of the United States in 1960, defeating future president Richard Nixon.

He was assassinated in November 1963 in Dallas, Texas, during a motorcade through the city, a crime for which Lee Harvey Oswald, the sniper, was arrested but was shot and killed by Jack Ruby before he faced trial.

Although Kennedy's presidency was short, he remains one of the most admired presidents in US history and his death the subject of various conspiracy theories including that he was killed by the mafia, the US government and the Cubans.

The Warren Commission, which was established by his successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, concluded Oswald assassinated Kennedy and acted alone.

However, there have been thousands of books, TV shows and films about the killing of the 35th president - with opinion polls showing a majority of Americans do not believe the official conclusion that the sniper worked on his own.

The current president is no stranger to the controversies and conspiracy theories that have long swirled around the assassination of Kennedy.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump made the unfounded claim that the father of his Republican rival for the White House, Senator Ted Cruz, was associated with Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, a claim he has never taken back, or apologised for.

The Washington Post said reported the new files were unlikely to contain much in the way of major new revelations but could shine a light on the movements of Oswald in the lead up to November 1963.