President Donald Trump has changed his tune on the conservative policy plan Project 2025 after actively distancing himself from it for months during his reelection campaign.
Trump announced on Thursday that he would be meeting with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, “he of PROJECT 2025 Fame,” to decide which “Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”
“I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The post marks a significant shift from the President’s past disavowals of the unpopular right-wing policy blueprint, which was created by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation ahead of the 2024 election. “I have nothing to do with Project 2025. I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it, purposely. I’m not going to read it,” Trump said in a debate last year with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Despite Trump’s repeated insistence that he didn’t know anything about Project 2025, however, he had close ties with a number of its authors, several of whom have served in his Administrations—including Vought. And since he returned to the White House in January his second Administration has taken steps to implement a number of the proposals detailed in the over 900-page document.
Now, amid the government shutdown, Trump is moving to further fulfill Project 2025’s goals of reducing the federal workforce and extending his executive powers—and, it appears, openly embracing the plan.
What is Project 2025?
Project 2025 is a sweeping policy agenda spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation that lays out hundreds of recommendations for the next Republican president to drastically reshape the federal government in alignment with a conservative, free-market agenda.
Included in the plan are proposals to gut abortion access; take aggressive immigration enforcement actions and dismantle the asylum system; eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; and roll back trans rights, among many other goals.
In the lead-up to the 2024 election, polling found that the agenda was widely unpopular among Americans.
Some of its most prominent authors are now a part of Trump’s second Administration, including Vought, senior White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr.
What Trump has said about it
Trump sought to separate himself from the contentious plan many times as Democrats worked to connect him to it during the presidential campaign, calling it “ridiculous.” In July 2024, Trump called attempts to tie him to the project “pure disinformation.”
“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,” Trump wrote. In other posts, he called the plan “abysmal.”
Paul Dans, who oversaw the project, ultimately stepped down from his position following Trump’s criticisms of the plan.
At the time Dans stepped down, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, two top Trump advisors, released a statement saying that “reports of Project 2025’s demise would be greatly welcomed and should serve as notice to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign — it will not end well for you.”
“Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign or the president in any way,” they added.
After winning the 2024 presidential election, however, Trump did tell TIME, “I don’t disagree with everything in Project 2025, but I disagree with some things.”
His Administration’s moves have mirrored its proposals
Despite his criticisms of Project 2025, many of the Trump Administration’s actions since he returned to office have mirrored aspects of the blueprint. An analysis by TIME in January found that nearly two-thirds of Trump’s early executive actions reflected—in whole or in part—proposals in Project 2025.
Among the parts of the plan that Trump has carried out is its recommendation to aggressively reduce the size and scope of the federal government.
Trump and hisDepartment of Government Efficiency moved quickly to cut more than 200,000 federal employees, though some of the layoffs have since been held up in the courts after being challenged by lawsuits. His Administration has also looked to slash federal funding through various freezes, clawbacks, cuts, and recissions.
Trump has announced plans to execute still more cuts amid the government shutdown. In the leadup to the deadline to fund the government this week, the White House directed agencies to prepare for mass firings in the event that Congress couldn’t reach a deal, rather than furloughing those not deemed essential as in past shutdowns.
The Administration has additionally used the shutdown to cancel $8 billion in green energy projects in Democratic-led states, withhold $18 billion in transportation projects in New York City, and pause $2.1 billion in infrastructure projects in Chicago.
The post Trump Is No Longer Denying Support for Project 2025: What to Know appeared first on TIME.
