Dr. Phil reveals the White House had him review UFO files to see how the public would react to them

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TV personality Dr. Phil claims the Trump administration tapped him to review government files about UFOs before their release to the public.

Dr. Phil, an ally of the president and member of the administration’s religious liberty committee, told NewsNation that the White House sought him out to provide his commentary on the files, which included scrutinizing how the public might react to learning that humans are “somewhere different in the food chain” of the universe.

“I think the reason they’re giving me access to this is because they want me doing exactly what I’m doing,” he told the program Reality Check, in an episode that released on Tuesday. “I have maintained independence in what I’m doing. They’re not scripting me. They’re not telling me what to say and not say.”

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

Having allegedly reviewed the files, Dr. Phil said he was convinced they reveal a government “cover-up” about the truth behind UFO sightings, including government agents treating President Trump like a “temp employee” and not sharing their full knowledge with him.

open image in gallery Dr. Phil claims the Trump administration tapped him to review UFO files before their release to the public ( AFP/Getty )

“That infuriates me,” he said. “How dare they do that? I don’t think that’s right and I think we deserve better.”

He added that he’s concerned about the moral and psychological impact of releasing information about UFOs to the public, which could prompt everything from spiritual crises to doomsday scams.

“I think it needs to be provided with context and I think that the American public is prepared to handle that,” he continued. “I think we as a government need to be prepared to help those that have a difficult time with it.”

Under the Trump administration, the federal government has released four tranches of materials about UFOs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena, as the government refers to them, most recently this month.

The files, pulled from agencies including the Pentagon, NASA and CIA, detail years' worth of incidents, including a 2025 encounter in which a military sensor tracked "an area of contrast resembling a six-pointed star" over the Yellow Sea near China. Some information in the releases had already been disclosed to the public in the past.

open image in gallery Under the Trump administration, the Pentagon has released four tranches of materials about unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) in the skies ( Defense Department )

UFO researchers say the releases have largely fallen flat and haven’t represented a major change in public knowledge about UAPs.

“It’s nothing new,” Donald R. Schmitt, an investigator at Roswell, New Mexico’s International U.F.O. Museum and Research Center, told The New York Times earlier this month. “It’s the same game that they have played all these years. Once again, we’re getting the carrot dangled in front of us.”

The administration has faced similar criticisms that it hasn’t lived up to disclosure promises around the JFK, Martin Luther King and Epstein files.