Project 2025: A Blueprint for Authoritarian Governance Turned Reality

Since his return to the White House, Donald Trump has swiftly enacted executive orders and policies closely resembling the far-right agenda crafted by the Heritage Foundation in Project 2025. Although Trump publicly distanced himself from the initiative, his actions suggest a calculated effort to implement its sweeping proposals. Nearly two-thirds of his executive orders align with the group’s recommendations, spanning education, gender rights, immigration, the federal workforce, and international relations. This overlap raises questions about whether Trump is following a deliberate strategy to consolidate power and reshape America’s political landscape in favor of his supporters, sidelining democratic institutions.

A key objective of the Heritage Foundation’s blueprint is dismantling the Department of Education. Trump has echoed this stance. Recently, his administration has moved to defund federal education programs, reallocating resources to school choice initiatives that primarily benefit private and religious institutions. Both Trump and the project also aim to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools and universities, framing them as left-wing indoctrination. Through executive orders, Trump has taken steps to cut DEI funding at the federal level.

The agenda is deeply rooted in far-right Christian nationalism, particularly concerning gender and LGBTQ+ policies. Advocating for defining gender as strictly male and female, banning gender-affirming care, and rolling back protections for transgender individuals, Trump has taken similar actions. He signed an executive order recognizing only two genders and enacted a ban on transgender athletes in women’s sports. While these policies are popular among his conservative base, they have faced criticism for undermining civil rights protections. Legal experts and advocacy groups argue that such actions may violate anti-discrimination laws, including Title IX.

In another alignment with the Project 2025, Trump has ramped up deportations, limiting asylum protections, and instituting national deportation raids. His administration has already expanded military involvement in border enforcement, reinstated the “Remain in Mexico” policy, and increased deportation orders. The project’s authors have also advocated for using presidential emergency powers to bypass legal barriers to mass deportations—a strategy Trump is apparently acting on.

The most concerning similarity is the push to reshape the federal workforce by replacing career civil servants with loyalists. One of the project’s main goals is reinstating Schedule F, an executive order that reclassifies federal employees as political appointees, making it easier to remove nonpartisan staff. Trump quickly revived this order upon returning to office, signaling plans for a widespread purge of government workers who oppose his agenda. Additionally, his administration has encouraged voluntary resignations with severance-style payouts to expedite the reshaping of federal agencies in his image.

The agenda also calls for suspending foreign aid programs deemed unnecessary and realigning U.S. international relations to focus solely on transactional benefits. Trump has already issued an executive order halting all U.S. foreign development assistance for 90 days and has worked to withdraw from global climate agreements, another priority of the project. His decision to pull the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement aligns with the Heritage Foundation’s economic agenda to the letter.

On trade, Trump has followed the project’s protectionist policies by reinstating tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. While he defends these tariffs as essential to protecting American industries, economists warn they could increase production costs and provoke trade wars.

Then there’s the Heritage Foundation’s vision involving artificial intelligence. Advocating for U.S. leadership in AI while eliminating regulations that prevent the spread of misinformation, Trump’s Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” aligns closely with this vision. It seeks to roll back safeguards that limit AI’s ability to disseminate extremist content. Critics argue this could foster unchecked misinformation under the guise of free speech, similar to how Elon Musk encourages the spread of propaganda on his platform X (formerly Twitter).

The likeness doesn’t end with just policy; it extends to personnel as well. Trump has appointed several individuals connected to the Heritage Foundation’s project to key positions within his administration. Russell Vought, a primary architect, now heads the Office of Management and Budget, placing him in charge of implementing its aggressive fiscal policies. Brendan Carr, another contributor to the project, has been nominated to lead the Federal Communications Commission, and Tom Homan, who contributed to its immigration policies, has been appointed as “border czar.”

These appointments highlight the growing influence of the project within Trump’s administration, reinforcing the idea that despite his public disavowals, there is a concerted effort to enact its radical agenda. The deepening connection between Trump’s policies and the Heritage Foundation’s proposals raises concerns about the erosion of democratic institutions and the consolidation of executive power.

Despite these undeniable connections, Trump has continued to reject any affiliation with the project. However, the alignment of his policies with its proposals, coupled with the involvement of key figures within his administration, casts doubt on the credibility of this claim. The Heritage Foundation has been a key influence on Trump’s inner circle, shaping policies and staffing his administration. Given the overwhelming overlap, Trump’s insistence on disavowing the project appears increasingly disingenuous. In reality, this isn’t about disavowing; it’s about advancing an authoritarian agenda, reshaping America in the image of a radical, far-right ideology with little regard for democratic principles or the rule of law.