President Donald Trump distanced himself from the conservative project known as Project 2025 on the campaign trail, but many policies he’s choosing to enact already align closely with it.
Project 2025, led by policy experts at the conservative Heritage Foundation, has provided the Republican presidential administration with a blueprint of policy ideas.
“President Trump and his team deserve the credit for delivering on his commitment to make America safer, stronger and better than ever before,” said Ellen Keenan, a spokesperson for the Heritage Foundation. “We are thrilled to see President Trump follow through on so many of his campaign promises in just one week.”
Some of the language in Trump’s executive orders mirrors language from Project 2025. In other cases, he’s calling for the same actions that authors in Project 2025 also said the next Republican president should take.
That didn’t sit well with groups opposed to Project 2025.
“Nine days into the newest Trump administration, many of Project 2025’s wildest dreams have already even been implemented or attempts have been made to implement them,” said Cathryn Oakley, senior policy director for the Human Rights Campaign, a left-leaning group that opposed Project 2025.
Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 during his presidential campaign, when many of its policies proved deeply unpopular with voters.
“I know nothing about Project 2025,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post in July. “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.”
Here are three ways Project 2025 recommendations have shown up in the Trump administration and what those policies do.