Former President Trump attempted to distance himself from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 Friday, claiming he had nothing to do with it and that parts of it are “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”
Trump disavowed the effort in a post on Truth Social, saying he didn’t know who was behind the initiative that offers recommendations on how a future Republican president can begin to enact conservative changes upon entering office.
“I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it,” Trump wrote. “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
Portrayed as a blueprint for a future Republican administration to restructure many parts of the U.S. government, Project 2025, also known as the Presidential Transition Project, launched in April 2023 and is not associated with Trump’s campaign.
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Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Liacouras Center on June 22, 2024, in Philadelphia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“As we’ve been saying for more than two years now, Project 2025 does not speak for any candidate or campaign,” a Project 2025 spokesperson told Fox News Digital when asked about Trump’s remarks. “We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups advocating policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president.
“But it is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to implement.”
Trump’s decision to distance himself from Project 2025 came one day after Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts faced criticism from Democrats for his comments about a “second American Revolution” on former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon’s radio program.
“[W]e are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” Roberts said, adding that the “radical left” is “apoplectic” because “our side is winning.”
From overhauling the Justice Department and FBI to tackling issues like abortion and immigration, the effort led by the nation’s top conservative think tank is organized into specific chapters for different agencies.
Some of the chapters contained in Project 2025 were penned with the help of former Trump administration officials. For instance, the chapter on the Department of Homeland Security was written by a team led by former assistant acting DHS Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, who argues the agency has become “bloated, bureaucratic, expensive and [has] lost sight of its mission priorities.”
Project 2025 has been used by the Biden campaign and other Democrats to target Trump’s candidacy in the 2024 race for the White House.
Project 2025 has been used by President Biden’s re-election campaign and other Democrats to target Trump’s candidacy in the 2024 race for the White House. (Getty Images)
Ahead of last week’s debate, the Biden campaign projected a QR code in different places around Atlanta that led to a campaign page tying Project 2025 to Trump.
The Biden campaign described the effort as “the plan by Donald Trump’s MAGA Republican allies to give Trump more power over your daily life, gut democratic checks and balances, and consolidate power in the Oval Office if he wins.”
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“Trump’s campaign advisors and close allies wrote it – and are doing everything they can to elect him so he can execute their playbook immediately,” the webpage stated.
Among many other claims, the Biden campaign said Project 2025 “Terminates the Constitution,” “Takes Away Reproductive Freedom Nationwide” and “Consolidates Power in the Oval Office.”
Project 2025 accused the Biden campaign of “obsessing” over the effort in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.
“Rather than obsessing over Project 2025, the Biden campaign should be addressing the 25th Amendment,” the spokesperson said.
Other Democrats have also slammed proposals outlined in Project 2025, including Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., who said the plan favoring America-first ideals is “un-American.”
“It’s really un-American,” Dean said during an appearance on “MSNBC Reports” last month. “If you take a look at it, what we pride ourselves on, agencies that support elected officials and government officials who are legislating for a president acting as executive.”
Dean also insisted Project 2025 organizers want to “replace civil servants.”
Trump’s decision to distance himself from Project 2025 came one day after Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts faced criticism from Democrats for his comments about a “second American Revolution.” (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Despite the proposals outlined in Project 2025, Trump has outlined his own plans to restructure the government if he wins a second term, including staging the largest deportation operation in U.S. history and imposing tariffs on potentially all imports.
Trump’s campaign has previously warned outside allies not to presume to speak for the former president and suggested their transition-in-waiting efforts were unhelpful.
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Project 2025 includes several former senior Trump administration officials, including Paul Dans, the director of the project who served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under Trump; Russ Vought, who wrote one of the chapters and served as director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump; and John McEntee, a senior adviser for the project who previously served as director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office in the Trump administration.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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