Donald Trump is going to great lengths on the campaign trail to distance himself from Project 2025, the controversial blueprint for his second administration—but he can’t seem to outrun his past praise for the people behind it, or their past claims that he is fully on board with their plans.
On Thursday, a video clip resurfaced of Paul Dans, the director of the Heritage Foundation’s 2025 Presidential Transition Project, claiming that the group has a “great” relationship with Trump.
“President Trump is very bought into this,” Dans, a former official in Trump’s first administration, said during an interview with a right-wing podcast last year.
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Dans isn’t the first person in Trump’s orbit involved in Project 2025, either. A new report from CNN found at least 140 people who worked for the former president are involved with the project, including Trump’s now-national press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is prominently featured in the group’s “presidential administration academy” video.
Trump himself confirmed that Project 2025 was helping him “lay the groundwork” for his potential next term when he was the keynote speaker for a dinner at The Heritage Foundation last year.
“This is a great group & they’re going to lay the groundwork & detail plans for exactly what our movement will do ... when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America,” Trump said.
Trump’s mad rush to distance himself from the platform came after the president of the foundation made an alarming statement on Steve Bannon’s podcast, saying that America is “in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
Three days later, Trump completely disavowed the project on his social media platform Truth Social.
“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump wrote. “I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
Trump used his social media platform to disavow the 900-page manifesto drawnup for him by the Heritage Foundation, which has extreme anti-abortion measures.
Truth Social/Daily BeastOne of Trump’s top contenders for vice president, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said The Heritage Foundation “serves as a guidepost for a lot of the public policy” conservatives create. Another veepstakes contender, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), praised some of the Projects’ work in his recent appearance on NewsMax Wednesday night.
Some of Project 2025’s most controversial policies include restricting access to contraception; mass deportations; erasing DEI programs; and gutting the federal workforce.
The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking Trump’s plans for a second term on the campaign trail and released a new memo on Thursday of proposals to counter any conservative policies that unconstitutionally restrict rights and help Trump “abuse” his power.
