The trump card fact checker
Project 2025 and agenda 47.
Questions surrounding former President Donald Trump’s connections to the controversial conservative plan Project 2025 are intensifying as he’s set to accept the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention this week.
Trump has previously disavowed the plan, posting on his social media site that he has “no idea” who is behind Project 2025 and knows “nothing” about it, but dozens of people who worked closely with him and helped shape his administration are involved in the plan.
“I disagree with some of the things they’re saying, and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal,” Trump wrote. “Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
What is Project 2025? The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that wrote Project 2025, said it’s a guide on what the next president needs to do so they can undo the “damage” to America they claim has been caused by liberal politicians.
Critics, though, say Project 2025 is extremist, “authoritarian” and even dystopian.
The plan’s authors have said in a statement to NewsNation that they are “not affiliated with any candidate” and that they “do not speak for President Trump, who was not involved with the creation of the Mandate for Leadership.” They also said that Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, is “not involved.”
What is Project 2025?
Project 2025 is a nearly 1,000-page document written by conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation.
It lays out a multiprong blueprint to overhaul the federal government for the next Republican administration.
A main component of Project 2025 is the firing of as many as 50,000 federal workers who conservative groups say will impede the president’s agenda.
Under Project 2025, agencies such as the U.S. Department of Education would be “eliminated,” and others, like the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission, and Justice Department, would be put under the president’s control.
A so-called top-to-bottom “overhaul” of the Department of Justice would end FBI efforts to stop misinformation. The Pentagon would “abolish” diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives if Project 2025 is adopted, and service members discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine would be reinstated.
On abortion, Project 2025 calls for restricting the procedure through a limit on mail-order pills and penalizing providers. Other health care services and social services like Medicare and Social Security would be scaled back and privatized as well, and any of the Biden administration’s climate change policies would be reversed through Project 2025.
Dozens of former Trump officials are working on Project 2025
Trump has disavowed Project 2025, but many top officials and political advisers who worked under his administration and some who are currently involved in his campaign have contributed to the plan.
Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign national press secretary, is allegedly seen in a video promoting Project 2025’s “Presidential Administration Academy,” which, according to the plan’s website, will “prepare and equip future political appointees now to be ready on Day One of the next conservative Administration.”
Agenda 47 (styled by the Trump campaign as Agenda47) is the manifesto of the Republican Party candidate Donald Trump, which details policies that are to be implemented upon his election as the 47th President of the United States.[a] Agenda 47 is a collection of formal policy plans of Donald Trump,[1] which will see several reforms to the economy, presidential powers, foreign policy, education, healthcare, immigration, national security and American media and journalism.[2] Agenda 47 affects LGBT individuals, makes changes to law enforcement, and discusses social issues and infrastructure planning.
The main critiques of the platform have focused on its feasibility, impact on inflation and threat of authoritarianism. Agenda 47 is Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign formal policy plans.[1] According to the Trump campaign, it is "the only official comprehensive and detailed look at what President Trump will do if he returns to the White House".[3] It is presented on the campaign's website in a series of videos with Trump outlining each proposal.[4] According to Philip Bump, some Agenda 47 videos appeared scattershot and responsive to current events around early 2023.[5][6] The proposals appeared to be aimed towards Republican primary voters and slowed down once his primary lead grew in April 2023,[5] to the point where Philip Bump wrote in the Washington Post in June 2024 that neither Trump nor his campaign regularly brings up the plan.[5] In 2023, Trump campaign officials acknowledged the Project 2025 aligned well with Agenda 47.[7] Project 2025 has, as of June 2024, reportedly caused some annoyance in the Trump campaign which had historically preferred fewer and more vague policy proposals to limit opportunities for criticism and maintain flexibility.[5] Some commentators have argued that Project 2025 is the most detailed look at what a Trump administration would look like.[5] Agenda 47 and Project 2025 share many themes and policies, including expanding presidential power such as through reissuing Schedule F,[8]: min.00:14 [9] cuts to the Department of Education, mass deportations of illegal immigrants,[10] death penalty for drug dealers, and using the US National Guard in liberal cities with high crime rates or those that are "disorderly".[11][12][13] The plans include constructing "freedom cities" on empty federal land, investing in flying car manufacturing, introducing baby bonuses to encourage a baby boom, implementing protectionist trade policies, and over forty others. Seventeen of the policies that Trump says he will implement if elected would require congressional approval. Some of his plans are legally controversial, such as ending birthright citizenship, and may require amending the U.S. Constitution.[14][4] Many of the proposals are contentious. One Agenda 47 proposal would impose the death penalty on drug dealers and human traffickers, as well as place Mexican cartels on the United States list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.