Trump’s MLK Dump: Power Play or Reckless Gambit?

The Grand Reveal—But Why Now?

Trump’s MLK Dump: Power Play or Reckless Gambit?

The Grand Reveal—But Why Now?

The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #439: July 22nd, 2025

Donald Trump just released over 240,000 pages of sealed FBI files on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—an act that has shocked civil rights groups…legal scholars…and even some of his own advisors.

These files were under court seal until 2027.

The family objected. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference objected. The archivists objected.

And he did it anyway.

This wasn't a leak. It wasn't a Freedom of Information request. It was a calculated command decision…a flex of executive muscle so muscular…even Richard Nixon would have blushed.

To MAGA world…it looks like transparency. To everyone else… it looks like exactly what it is: a distraction bomb dressed in historical righteousness.

Timing Is Everything—Trump’s Strategic Moonshot

The timing isn’t just suspect. It’s surgical.

With backlash exploding over the incomplete Epstein files, Trump’s base fracturing, and civil liberties lawyers circling like sharks…he needed a grand gesture to shift the national gaze.

Releasing the MLK files gave him exactly that…a Trojan Horse of historical “truth” that conveniently derails headlines.

But this goes deeper than deflection. This is about Project 2025.

Trump's operatives are prepping a hostile takeover of the executive branch. The MLK release is an appetizer…a public demo of what happens when Trump controls the levers. It says: "When I’m in charge, I override the courts…the historians…even the dead."

And let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: Trump is trying to recast himself as the anti-Hoover.

He wants to appear like the truth-teller exposing the government’s sins…while he commits his own.

It’s not ironic. It’s intentional misdirection—a card straight out of Roger Stone’s political playbook.

Benefits of the MLK Dump (in MAGA World)

Trump’s team isn’t made up of fools.

They know this move doesn’t land well with moderates. But that’s not the audience.

This was for the conspiracy-curious, the anti-deep state brigade…and the TikTok right that already believes the FBI is a rogue agency.

By dumping these files…Trump strengthens his narrative that federal institutions are corrupt…unless he’s in charge of them.

Then there’s the executive power flex.

This act tells the nation: “I don’t care if it was sealed. I don’t care if it’s sensitive. I’ll release it when I damn well please.”

That sells incredible power to his followers. It highlights what Trump’s second term is all all about: unfiltered…unchecked…unbound by law or tradition.

Finally, it’s a strategic repositioning.

Trump isn’t just defending himself anymore; he’s reframing himself as a liberator of historical truth.

The symbolism is potent: "I released the MLK files. That’s transparency." It's a narrative pivot…and in today's fragmented media world…it doesn't need to be true to be effective.

The Fallout—Risks That Bite Back

Let’s start with the most obvious problem: MLK’s family.

Bernice King and Martin Luther King III both condemned the release…calling it reckless and dehumanizing.

They reminded the country that these files contain fabricated accusations…psychological warfare…and intelligence harassment.

In other words…the same tactics Trump’s DOJ is accused of today.

And here’s where it gets dangerous: legal precedent.

These files were sealed until 2027 for a reason.

Trump may have just cracked open a legal Pandora’s box that gives future presidents a green light to override judicial protections. If challenged…and they will be…this could drag the DOJ into another constitutional crisis.

Worse, it fractures the civil rights coalition.

By injecting MLK’s legacy into a partisan power struggle…Trump is sowing discord between traditional Black leadership…younger activists…and progressive Democrats.

It’s a classic divide-and-conquer strategy…and if it works…he’ll do it again.

The Putin Tapes—COINTELPRO Ghosts?

Inside the files lie some of the most grotesque abuses of federal power ever committed: the FBI’s COINTELPRO campaign to destroy King’s life.

False rumors. Blackmail tapes. "Suicide suggestion letters." It’s the stuff of dictatorship—and that’s the point.

Instead of acknowledging that the same government tactics he now uses were once turned against the greatest moral leader of the 20th century…Trump is weaponizing the history to cast himself as the persecuted outsider.

That’s not transparency. It’s historical theft.

By releasing these documents under the guise of freedom…he’s erasing context and rebranding surveillance abuse as mere "research."

He’s hoping people forget that his own FBI…under his appointees…has been accused of targeting journalists…civil rights groups…and protestors with eerily similar tactics.

Why Trump Did It Now

The Epstein revelations are radioactive.

MAGA influencers are peeling off. Even Breitbart is running cover stories instead of headlines. So Trump needed an emotional decoy—something tied to morality…legacy… injustice. MLK was perfect.

It also serves a long game function. Releasing these files now desensitizes the public to explosive declassifications.

That way, when he drops selective Epstein docs (or suppresses others), people don’t ask why—they just absorb the drama.

And politically, it's masterstroke propaganda.

Trump positions himself as the "anti-deep-state" warrior…the guy who released MLK files!…to muddy his own surveillance abuse…purge plans…and control over federal hiring under Project 2025. It’s inversion. It’s projection. And it’s deliberate.

What's Next? (Consequences & Flashpoints)

The most obvious flashpoint? Congressional blowback.

Lawmakers will now be forced to ask whether any president can simply override sealed court orders. If Trump gets away with it, it sets precedent for future abuses—like declassifying personal records, donor lists, even sealed indictments.

And then there's the cultural warfare fallout.

Releasing these files didn’t just strike a nerve…it shattered one. The Black church. Civil rights historians. Progressives. Even moderate conservatives who still remember Hoover's name as a curse. All of them are waking up to the stakes.

But perhaps the most dangerous part is what it normalizes.

Trump just created a blueprint:

Wrap authoritarian power moves in civil rights branding…and half the country will cheer you for it. That’s not leadership. That’s fascism with a PR firm.

When They Desecrate the Sacred, Pay Attention

They didn’t release these files to honor history. They dropped them like a smoke bomb…mid-chaos…mid-cover-up…mid-Epstein fallout…hoping you'd choke on the dust while they slipped out the back door.

This wasn’t transparency. It was theater. And the second you stop clapping…the lights go out…and the real show begins.

And make no mistake: he didn’t pick MLK by accident. He picked the most sacred symbol of American moral authority and turned it into a prop. A distraction. A warning shot.

If they’ll drag the ghost of Martin Luther King Jr. through the mud to protect themselves, ask yourself this: What do you think they’ll do to you?

You’ve got a mind for liberty. Let’s sharpen it. Daily.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a warrior and a courageous example of what commitment and an intense sense of purpose look and sound like.

He was 3x the man Donald Trump will ever be. You know that. I know it. The world knows it.

Eyes up.

Warmly,

-Jack

—Jack