Trump, Conservatives, and Project 2025
By Jason Collins
While the run-up to the November elections was full of your usual political rivalry madness, a 900-page policy agenda began gaining more of the spotlight as the Biden and Harris campaigns raised the alarm about what could be in store for Americans if Donald Trump won. It caused so much of a stir that the Democrats had even set up a task force to deal with it. The policy? The famed 2025 Project. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into what this project is, separating fact from fiction and Trump’s thoughts on it.
The 2025 Project
This 900-page political wishlist has been around since April 2022 and was spearheaded by the American conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation. Like a policy bible, the foundation published its first mandate in 1981 with ties to Ronald Reagan. In a nutshell, Project 2025 outlines a set of policies to solve problems like the border crisis, inflation, rampant crime, and a stagnant economy. The project also includes plans to take on consumer and trade giant China and dismantle the deep state to give it back to the American people. Sound familiar?
That’s because the project closely aligns with Trump’s campaign goals, making people worried. Real worried. So much so that the Democrats even set up a “Stop Project 2025 Task Force” with a tip line to collect insider information from the foundation’s activities. According to AP News, Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation and the force behind Project 2025, scoffed at the efforts, said, “Project 2025 will not be ‘stopped,” and said Democrats are “more than welcome to try.”
We will not give up, and we will win.
A Brief Look at Project 2025 Policies
So, what exactly is the project that has got Democrats and others so worried if it gets implemented?
While the project does not propose dismantling the government or the Constitution, it does propose placing the entire federal bureaucracy under direct presidential control. This would mean removing job protections for government employees.
Abortion is something the project does address and outlines that it does not call for an outright nationwide abortion ban and leaves it up to the individual states. Instead, it calls for federal support for abortion alternatives like adoption. The project also adds that access to birth control, in-vitro fertilization, and prenatal care should be protected.
To address the border crisis, the project proposes increased funding for the wall on the US-Mexico border, dismantling the Department of Homeland Security and combining it with other immigration enforcement units.
Is Trump Even Involved?
It’s hard not to look at the project’s goals and Trump’s and ignore the similarities, but time and time again, Trump has maintained that he does not have anything to do with the hard-right conservative plan. From early July, Trump began distancing himself from the project and even going so far as to write about it on his social media platform, Truth Social. He wrote, “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it.” He added,
I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.
However, the fact that several of Trump’s closest advisors were heavily involved in the project didn’t help. For example, Russ Vought, Trump’s incoming Office of Management and Budget director, played a key role in the project. Vought helped draft the orders that would undermine civil service protections. Other officials who also worked on the project are Brendan Carr, Trump’s choice for chair of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Homan, and John Ratcliffe, Trump’s CIA director nominee.
The Force Behind The Project
It’s no coincidence that Trump’s and the project’s goals are similar. Kevin Roberts planned it that way. Roberts, who is a PhD-holder historian, is on a mission to “institutionalize Trumpism.” During an interview on MSNBC, he explained,
We need to understand what time it is in America. And right now, Donald Trump, whether someone likes it or not – I happen to like it – is the standard bearer for conservatives.
Over the years, Roberts has quickly risen within the elite conservatives. He’s appeared on the Steve Bannon show and will appear on Tucker Carlson’s. His upcoming book even has a foreword from VP JD Vance.
How Worried Should We Be About Project 2025?
Should we be worried about Project 2025 becoming a reality in our government? The likelihood of Trump implementing the 900-page policy mandate is slim.
During an interview with Time magazine after being named its 2024 Person of the Year, Trump told the magazine, “I don’t disagree with everything in Project 2025, but I disagree with some things.” He added,
I specifically didn’t want to read it because it wasn’t under my auspices. They have some things that are very conservative and very good. They have other things that I don’t like.
In the interview, Trump also slammed the foundation for releasing the document when they did, “They complicated my election by doing it because people tried to tie me and I didn’t agree with everything in there,” and added, “I thought it was inappropriate that they would come out with a document like that prior to my election,” Trump concluded by saying, “I thought it was a very foolish thing for them to do.”
So, while the likelihood of Trump implementing the project is very low, it’s not altogether impossible considering that some policies are similar to Trump’s. The project may influence some of Trump’s decision-making, and since some of the policies are so similar to Trump’s own beliefs, the changes might not be that noticeable at first. For example, the project calls for an expedited removal of immigrants, which echoes Trump’s mass deportation plan. But what will this mean for the American people?
Should Trump implement this project, Americans will experience a completely different political landscape where the president would have direct control over all federal departments that saw thousands of workers fired and other departments broken up. If implemented, the project could redefine what personal autonomy means in the country making it harder for citizens to have a say in their government.
During the War on Terror, Americans were so agitated and frightened about terrorism that they were willing to cede Constitutional rights to the government. A similar situation is unfolding over what might be described as a War on Immigration. Most Americans want illegal immigration ended, no matter what it takes, and Project 2025 policy could be implemented in that political environment. And, like the Patriot Act, when something like this goes into effect dramatically increasing the power of the Executive Branch, both parties fall in love with power and it will be nearly impossible to repeal.
