University of Kwazulu-Natal

How Trump S Executive Orders Mirror Project 2025 Proposals Msn

Bonisiwe Shabane
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how trump s executive orders mirror project 2025 proposals msn

President Donald Trump on the campaign trail last summer disavowed Project 2025, saying he knew nothing about the effort. But many of the conservative blueprint’s ideas have made their way into his early executive orders, signaling the sweeping impact the Heritage Foundation document has already had on the Trump administration’s policy making. A side-by-side review by POLITICO found dozens of cases where the president’s early executive actions have aligned with portions of the 922-page policy document, including some instances with nearly verbatim language lifted from the... Several of the ideas, such as energy policies expanding U.S. oil and critical minerals production, are longtime conservative policy priorities that did not originate with Project 2025. But some of the more unconventional strategies outlined in the document, such as reclassifying federal employees to make them easier to fire and installing loyalists in senior government positions, have also shown up in...

There have also been other Trump administration moves outside of his executive orders that appear to come directly from Project 2025, such as directing the Federal Communications Commission to investigate NPR and PBS for... We’ve broken down the executive order similarities in social issues, immigration, government staffing and other categories below. As a U.S. presidential candidate in 2024, Donald Trump attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, a wide-ranging initiative by the conservative nonprofit The Heritage Foundation to overhaul the federal government. But, since taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2025, a number of his administration's actions have mirrored the effort.

Below, we highlight several proposals in a roughly 1,000-page document at the center of Project 2025 and actions by the Trump administration that align with them, as of December 2025. They cover the following policy areas: In 2022, the Heritage Foundation formally revealed Project 2025, partnering dozens of conservative advocacy groups and former government officials to develop goals for a future presidential administration. The effort centered on a document of proposals, published in 2023, including recommendations to reclassify federal jobs to give more power to the executive branch and reverse policies issued by former President Joe Biden... The moment Donald Trump returned to the White House, he wasted no time reshaping federal policy in ways that closely mirror the controversial Project 2025 blueprint. While Trump publicly denied any involvement with the plan, his first-day executive orders reveal a striking alignment with its proposals—from reversing diversity initiatives to ramping up energy development and restricting refugee admissions.

This unprecedented alignment has sparked intense debate over whether Project 2025 is influencing the early contours of Trump’s new term. From day one, Trump’s executive actions reflected recommendations outlined in Project 2025. He swiftly dismantled decades-old federal diversity and affirmative action policies, rescinding a 1965 executive order by Lyndon B. Johnson that had barred discrimination and mandated affirmative action for federal contractors. In doing so, Trump stripped the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) of core authority to enforce these policies. Project 2025 also advised repealing President Biden’s Executive Order 14020, which established the White House Gender Policy Council.

Trump complied, rescinding the order immediately. Echoing Project 2025’s stance on gender, he signed an executive order affirming that there are only two sexes, male and female, rejecting gender identity as synonymous with sex in federal policy. Transgender military protections instituted under Biden were also revoked, reflecting Project 2025 recommendations. Energy policy received immediate attention. Trump signed orders promoting Alaska’s oil and gas development, halting offshore wind leasing, and repealing Biden-era electric vehicle mandates—steps directly aligned with Project 2025’s call for expanded national energy security and the rollback of... Immigration and refugee policy followed a similar blueprint.

Trump deployed troops and National Guard personnel to the southern border, matching Project 2025’s proposals for military-assisted enforcement. He also suspended U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) resettlements, citing national interest priorities, another point mirrored in the blueprint. On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump signed a blizzard of executive orders on everything from the environment to immigration — and nearly two-thirds of them came straight from Project 2025,... Of the twenty-six formal executive orders Trump signed on Monday, sixteen mirrored at least in part proposals from the Heritage Foundation’s nine-hundred-page Project 2025 to reshape the federal government, according to an analysis by... That includes orders that withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords, end Biden’s electric vehicle mandates, and increase oil and gas drilling in Alaska — all proposals...

In 2024, Democrats linked Trump to Project 2025 during the presidential campaign, noting that more than 140 former Trump administration employees worked on the policy agenda released in April 2023 and that Trump’s running... D. Vance, had been boosting the project’s leader. Trump quickly distanced himself from Project 2025, claiming he had “nothing to do with” it and declaring that “some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.” Many of the new executive orders, however, seem torn straight from the pages of Project 2025. Some roll back previous executive orders issued by former President Joe Biden that aimed to combat climate change or improve diversity and equity in the federal government.

Others reinstate executive orders from the first Trump administration. Trump said he doesn’t know ‘what the hell’ Project 2025 is — but there are dozens of parallels between the document and his executive order From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important... At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Five months ago, President Donald Trump stood on a debate stage with Kamala Harris and told voters he had “nothing to do with Project 2025,” that he hadn’t read it, and that he did...

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