University of Kwazulu-Natal

What To Know About Trump S Ties To Project 2025 S Close Allies As He

Bonisiwe Shabane
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what to know about trump s ties to project 2025 s close allies as he

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... President Donald Trump is now openly embracing the conservative blueprint he desperately tried to distance himself from during the 2024 campaign. President Donald Trump speaks to a gathering of top U.S. military commanders at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, in Quantico, Va.

(Andrew Harnik/Pool via AP) Russell Vought, Office of Management and Budget director, listens as he addresses members of the media outside the West Wing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he greets the crowd at the Ryder Cup golf tournament, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, on the Bethpage Black golf course in Farmingdale, N.Y.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) ▶ Follow live updates on President Donald Trump and his administration Jill Colvin, Associated Press Jill Colvin, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump is openly embracing the conservative blueprint he desperately tried to distance himself from during the 2024 campaign, as one of its architects works to use the government... In a post on his Truth Social site Thursday morning, Trump announced he would be meeting with his budget chief, "Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat... The comments represented a dramatic about-face for Trump, who spent much of last year denouncing Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation's massive proposed overhaul of the federal government, which was drafted by many of his...

READ MORE: Trump threatens mass firings as shutdown continues with no signs of potential deal As President Joe Biden’s campaign seeks to rebound from his rough debate performance two weeks ago, it has increasingly tried to turn the attention to former President Donald Trump about Project 2025, an expansive... Over the last week, Trump has tried to put some distance between himself and Project 2025. "I know nothing about Project 2025," he said in a Truth Social post Friday. "I have no idea who is behind it.” He doubled down in a social media post Thursday morning, saying, "I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had...

But many of Trump’s key allies have been directly involved in producing the project, which includes a 900-plus page policy road map and personnel database gathered by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank... Former president Donald J. Trump has repeatedly claimed that he had nothing to do with Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s conservative policy initiative to reshape the federal government. Mr. Trump has said that he has not read its proposals and does not know who is behind it. But Project 2025 has numerous ties to Mr.

Trump and his campaign, a New York Times analysis has found. The people behind Project 2025 are no strangers to the former president. The Heritage Foundation’s president, Kevin D. Roberts, and a co-founder, Edwin J. Feulner, have each personally met with Mr. Trump.

And the analysis of the Project 2025 playbook and its 307 authors and contributors revealed that well over half of them had been in Mr. Trump’s administration or on his campaign or transition teams. Large portions of the “Mandate for Leadership,” the driving document behind Project 2025, were written by longtime Trump loyalists who were advisers to Mr. Trump during his first term. Eighteen of the 40 authors and editors who worked on the document served in the first Trump administration: One worked on Mr.

Trump’s first presidential transition team: On July 5, 2024, Donald Trump dismissed Project 2025 outright. “I know nothing about it. I have no idea who is behind it… I have nothing to do with them.” That was thirteen months ago. Today, he presides over an administration where roughly 71% of cabinet-level officials, along with many of his most powerful aides, come directly from the Heritage Foundati…

An analysis found that more than 50 high-level Trump administration officials have links to groups behind the Heritage Foundation-backed plan. Project 2025 has captured the U.S. government. More than 50 high-level Trump administration officials have links to groups behind the Heritage Foundation-backed plan, a DeSmog analysis found. That number includes many of President Trump’s closest advisors, from Stephen Miller to the recently departing Elon Musk. It also includes a full 70 percent of his cabinet.

Some of the officials directly authored parts of “The Mandate for Leadership,” the now-notorious, 900-page proposal to “dismantle the administrative state” — the meat of Project 2025. Others recently worked for, donated to, or otherwise collaborated with one or more of the dozens of conservative groups that created the distinctly Christian Nationalist-flavored document. Some of these high-ranking officials have connections to five or more different Project 2025 groups, DeSmog’s analysis found. In other words, Project 2025 isn’t just influential in Washington. Its friends and creators are literally running the show. Which helps to explain why the Trump administration has worked swiftly to implement the vision described in the “Mandate.”

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