As US President Joe Biden attempts to make up for his catastrophic losses following the first presidential debate, he sought to link the so-called “Project 2025” to his rival Donald Trump, who did not remain silent in turn, denying any connection to the project. Its founders described it as the “Second American Revolution,” and that it “will remain bloodless if the left allows it to do so.”
The 900-page document, first unveiled in April 2023, is a set of conservative policy proposals for a future Republican administration that has angered Democrats. It was launched by the Heritage Foundation and similar conservative groups, and while Trump has said he knows nothing about the project or the people involved, reports have suggested that his allies are behind it.
The document related to the project is one of the most controversial questions in the current presidential election race, although it does not reach the level of controversy related to President Biden’s health.
What is Project 2025?
The 2025 project, led by the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that has shaped the staff and policies of Republican administrations since Ronald Reagan, was announced before Trump officially entered the 2024 race.
The project was a set of options for a Trump administration or any other Republican presidency. Although the Heritage Foundation has conducted similar research every few years since 1981, no previous study has been as comprehensive in its recommendations or as widely discussed as this one.
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, which began compiling the final document in 2022, said he believes the U.S. government will embrace a more conservative era, one he hopes Republicans will usher in. “We are in the process of the second American Revolution,” he said in early July, adding pointedly that the revolution “will be bloodless if the left allows it to be,” according to the New York Times.
A representative for Project 2025 said he did not speak for any candidate, adding that “it is ultimately up to the next president, who we believe will be Trump, to decide what recommendations will be implemented.”
What does Project 2025 propose?
Much of the bill includes sweeping reforms of the executive branch. Among its many recommendations, it outlines plans to criminalize “pornography,” dismantle the Commerce and Education departments, and reject the idea of abortion as health care. It also supports deploying the military “to assist in arrests” along the U.S.-Mexico border. Among its proposals, it calls for “firing thousands of civil servants, expanding the power of the president, and dismantling more federal agencies.”
Beyond policy proposals, the Trump administration and its name are mentioned hundreds of times in the project, and reports reveal that Trump’s first-term advisers, who are expected to appear in the administration if he wins, are the ones who formed parts of the project.
Russell Vought, Trump’s former budget director, led a portion of the 2025 project, as did John McEntee, the former White House chief of staff who oversaw Trump’s systematic pushback against officials deemed disloyal in 2020.
Trump not only tried to distance himself from the project, but also attacked it, saying he disagreed with parts of it: “Some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and disgraceful.” He did not specify which elements he was talking about.
Trump’s Plans and Project 2025
There are clear signs that Trump’s plans differ from the bill, but there are several points of convergence. While the 2025 bill takes an “aggressive” approach to curtailing abortion rights, and says that the federal Department of Health and Human Services “should be called the Department of Life,” Trump’s position on abortion has shifted, and in the first debate he said that abortion rights should be decided on a state-by-state basis.
One similarity, according to the New York Times, is the “erosion” of the Justice Department’s independence, with Trump repeatedly criticizing the legitimacy of the department’s investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The 2025 Project claims the department is bureaucratically bloated and must be reined in, filled with employees committed to a “radical liberal agenda.”
On immigration, Trump has made no secret of his plans to conduct the largest mass deportation campaign in history, and his 2025 plan also proposes removing any “immigration violators.”
On international policy, Trump and Project 2025 emphasize a protectionist outlook, often referred to by the Trump campaign as “America First” policies. Sections of Project 2025 refer to higher tariffs on competitors, and increased competition with China.
In a rare case of a vague policy proposal, Project 2025 has made its way to the public, drawing widespread condemnation. Since February, the Biden campaign’s social media account has posted hundreds of posts about Project 2025, linking it to Trump. The effort has received more engagement than most of the account’s posts, according to a Biden campaign official.
Elected Democrats, particularly on the “left,” have used the project to highlight the dangers of a second Trump term. Liberal members of Congress, such as Ayanna S. Pressley of Massachusetts, have taken to news programs and congressional hearings to highlight what they say is Trump’s undeclared platform, while describing the project as “far-right” and one that would destroy the federal government as it is currently known.
Senior Trump aides, such as Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, have expressed concern about the press coverage of the 2025 plan. They see much of it as damaging to the general election. They are particularly concerned about anything that has to do with abortion restrictions, to the point that Trump himself has become increasingly convinced that strict abortion restrictions are electoral poison.