If Donald Trump is elected president of the United States in the 2024 election, there’s already a proposal drawn up for the transition: Project 2025, a conservative playbook spearheaded by the right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation. The plan was created before Trump was announced as the Republican candidate and was designed for whoever would be running on the Republican ticket.
“Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” is a document running around 900 pages that outlines Project 2025’s aims. It includes suggestions for staffing and policy and is very critical of Joe Biden’s presidency. The plan’s overall mission is to consolidate executive power, giving the president far greater authority; it also proposes executive orders and plans for regulations, which would be ready to go if Trump were to get elected.
“The point is to hasten the hiring of aligned personnel and hasten the implementation of conservative policy. And that includes hastening the overturning, via executive order, of what we believe are wrong policies of the current administration,” Kevin D. Roberts, the Heritage Foundation’s president, told The New York Times Magazine in January. Roberts also noted that during Trump’s first presidency, his administration “with the best of intentions, simply got a slow start. And Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated.”
The plan has since sparked backlash, namely from people on the left frightened by extreme proposals that would curtail reproductive rights, civil liberties, and public education. But Republicans have also tried to distance themselves from it. Trump has insisted several times that he’s not involved with Project 2025, even though six of his former cabinet members, four people he nominated as ambassadors, and his first deputy chief of staff were all heavily involved, per CNN. Below, everything else you need to know about this controversial plan.
Who is involved with Project 2025?
Many of those involved with Project 2025 are closely connected to Trump. Overall, six people who were cabinet secretaries under Trump were involved in writing the “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” document. Members of Trump’s inner circle, including Mark Meadows and Stephen Miller, are also part of conservative groups that have contributed to the project.
The authors include Rick Dearborn, Trump’s former deputy chief of staff, and Russell T. Vought, who was director of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget. Ben Carson, Trump’s once opponent and the former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, worked on a chapter focused on housing.
Bernard McNamee, who ran the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under Trump, advised on how to undo President Biden’s climate laws. Mandy Gunasekara, who was chief of staff for the Environmental Protection Agency under Trump, provided suggestions for dismantling the bureau. William Perry Pendley, an Interior official, suggested shrinking national monument land and making it more difficult for the president to protect federal land.
What is the Heritage Foundation?
The conservative organization was started in 1973 with $250,000, given by Joseph Coors, president of Coors. It grew quickly and soon had a yearly budget of $10 million. The Heritage Foundation advocates for smaller government, strengthening defense, and eliminating abortion access. It was influential in the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, and the foundation has advocated for restrictions on immigration as well as made judicial recommendations that led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
What has Trump said about Project 2025?
Trump has frequently denied being involved with Project 2025. “I have nothing to do with Project 2025,” he said during the presidential debate on September 10. “That’s out there. I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it, purposely. I’m not going to read it. This was a group of people that got together, they came up with some ideas. I guess some good, some bad. But it makes no difference.”
In a July Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it. The Radical Left Democrats are having a field day, however, trying to hook me into whatever policies are stated or said. It is pure disinformation on their part. By now, after all of these years, everyone knows where I stand on EVERYTHING!”
What have Democrats said about Project 2025?
Vice President Harris also addressed Project 2025 during the presidential debate: “I’m going to tell you on this debate tonight, you’re going to hear from the same old tired playbook, a bunch of lies, grievances, and name calling.”
She then continued, “What you’re going to hear tonight is a detailed and dangerous plan called Project 2025 that the former president intends on implementing if he were elected to again.” She has also emphasized the extreme abortion restrictions detailed in Project 2025.
President Biden has come out strongly against Project 2025 and Trump’s possible involvement. “He’s trying to hide his connections to his allies’ extreme Project 2025 agenda,” Biden said in a July statement. “The only problem? It was written for him, by those closest to him. Project 2025 should scare every single American.” On July 11, he posted a video saying, “Project 2025 will destroy America. Look it up.”
In response to Trump’s minimization of Project 2025, Gov. Tim Walz, who’s also the Democratic candidate for vice president, said, “If you’re going to take the time to draw up a playbook, you’re damn sure going to use it.”
Now, there is a Democratic Stop Project 2025 Task Force, which is working to show the connection between Trump, the Republican Party, and those who worked on Project 2025.
Adrienne Gaffney is a features editor at ELLE and previously worked at WSJ Magazine and Vanity Fair.