It Turns Out Trump Likes Project 2025 Quite a Bit

To absolutely no one's surprise...

Dec 02, 2024

Remember when Donald Trump claimed he had "nothing to do with" Project 2025? As the New York Times reported last week, that stance lasted precisely as long as the campaign did.

During his run, Trump called the 900-page right-wing manifesto's policy goals "absolutely ridiculous" and, during his debate with Kamala Harris, insisted he wasn't even going to read it. Media outlets, including the Times itself, often used these denials to "fact-check" claims linking Trump to the document, despite the obvious connections between Project 2025's architects and Trump's inner circle.

But now that the votes are counted, Trump's dropping the pretense. The Times reports he's filling his administration with at least half a dozen Project 2025 architects for key positions, including Russell T. Vought, one of the document's authors, to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

The media's willingness to take Trump's campaign denials at face value, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary, shows how our political press remains stuck in an outdated model of “both sides” journalism. When Trump said he had "no idea who is behind" Project 2025 in July, many outlets dutifully reported this claim.

Photo by Allison Robbert-Pool/Getty Images

Look who he's bringing in: There's Stephen Miller, slated to be deputy chief of staff for policy, whose America First Legal organization advised on the project. Thomas Homan, Trump's pick for “border czar,” directly contributed to the blueprint's recommendations for expanding deportations and eliminating restrictions on immigration arrests at schools and churches. Brendan Carr, tapped to lead the FCC, wrote the chapter on "reining in Big Tech." John Ratcliffe, his choice for CIA director, was repeatedly cited throughout the document.

These aren't coincidental connections that required complex investigative journalism to uncover—they were always right there in plain sight. Yet much of the mainstream press played along with Trump's transparent attempt to distance himself from the project when polls showed voters were unsettled by its authoritarian aims.

Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told the Times that these appointees are "wholeheartedly committed to President Trump's agenda, not the agenda of outside groups." For once, this is technically true—Project 2025 isn't some outside agenda being forced on Trump. It's his agenda, written by his allies, now being executed by those same people.

The Democratic National Committee's Alex Floyd told the Times that Trump is “taking off the mask.” But that implies there was ever really a mask to begin with. Trump's attempts to distance himself from Project 2025 were always transparently tactical, meant to get through the election without scaring moderate voters. And too many media outlets played along, prioritizing access and "balance" over truth-telling.

This is how authoritarianism often arrives—not through outright declarations, but through calculated denials followed by steady implementation once power is secured. The question now isn't whether Trump will use Project 2025 as his blueprint—he clearly is. The question is whether our democratic institutions, including a press corps that seems perpetually surprised by Trump doing exactly what he and his allies have telegraphed they would do, are strong enough to withstand what's coming.

The former president spent months lying about his connection to this radical plan for reshaping American democracy. Now that he's won, those lies don't matter anymore. The mask is off, the gloves are off, and the Project 2025 architects are moving into their offices.

The next time Trump tries to downplay his extremist allies' plans, maybe we should skip the "fact-checks" and just look at what he actually does.