Dr. Phil reveals what Trump administration had him do ahead of UFO files release

Dr. Phil claims the Trump administration brought him in to privately review government files on UFOs before they were released to the public.

The TV personality, who serves on the administration's religious liberty committee, told NewsNation he was asked to weigh in on how Americans might react to learning humans occupy 'somewhere different in the food chain' of the universe.

He said the White House wanted his honest, independent take rather than a scripted response.

"I think the reason they're giving me access to this is because they want me doing exactly what I'm doing," he said on the network's program Reality Check, in an episode released 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."

Dr. Phil claims the Trump administration brought him in to privately review government files on UFOs before they were released to the public. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)

What did Dr. Phil say about the Trump administration's UFO files?

Having reviewed the material, Dr. Phil said he came away convinced the files point to a government 'cover-up' surrounding the truth behind UFO sightings.

He claimed government agents had treated President Trump like a 'temp employee' by withholding their full knowledge from him.

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

He also raised concerns about the psychological and moral fallout of releasing UFO information to the public, warning it could trigger anything 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."

An Image released by the Department of War an images of a UAP that resembles a football-shaped body near Japan that the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. (Photo US Department of War via Getty Images)

How many UFO file releases has the Trump administration made?

The federal government has now published four tranches of material on UFOs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena, as officials refer to them, with the most recent batch dropping this month.

The documents, sourced from agencies including the Pentagon, NASA and the CIA, cover years of reported incidents, including a 2025 case in which a military sensor tracked 'an area of contrast resembling a six-pointed star' over the Yellow Sea near China.

Some of the disclosed information had already been made public in earlier releases.

Not everyone shares Dr. Phil's read on the files. UFO researchers say the disclosures have largely underwhelmed and done little to shift public understanding of the phenomena.

Donald R. Schmitt, an investigator at the International U.F.O. Museum and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico, told The New York Times earlier this month that the pattern was familiar.

"It's nothing new," he said. "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 criticism echoes broader frustration with the administration's handling of high-profile document releases, with similar accusations of falling short on disclosure promises tied to the JFK, Martin Luther King Jr. and Epstein files.