A new report details how former President Donald Trump shared a flight with Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts in 2022, just before Trump gave a speech to that organization praising its work on a document that would eventually become Project 2025.
The report from The Washington Post provides more evidence contradicting Trump’s claims that he has no connection to the unpopular Project 2025, which he has tried to distance himself from during his 2024 campaign for the White House.
According to the report, The Heritage Foundation provided Trump with the flight from his Palm Beach, Florida, home to an event it was sponsoring in April 2022, doing so because Trump’s personal plane was being refurbished at that time. Roberts and Trump sat with each other and briefly discussed the project Heritage was working on, which would provide a far right roadmap for Trump in the event that he won the 2024 election.
According to a source from Heritage who spoke to The Post, Trump seemed uninterested in discussing the document while on the plane. But that characterization is questionable given that the Trump campaign has pressured Heritage to stop promoting Project 2025, recognizing that it is being used by Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’s campaign to highlight the potential consequences of another Trump presidency.
It’s possible, therefore, that that source felt the need to downplay Trump’s and Roberts’s conversation regarding Project 2025 — indeed, a spokesperson for Trump denies the conversation even took place.
Yet shortly after the flight, Trump, speaking at the Heritage-sponsored event, lauded Roberts and the organization for the project they were working on, describing it as “lay[ing] the groundwork” for the future of conservatism and his presidency.
Due to pressure from the Trump campaign to end its public push of the document, Heritage announced in late July that Project 2025 would be winding down. The initiative is by no means going away, however, and Roberts has taken over the limited day-to-day operations of maintaining and answering questions about the project.
The document has been widely criticized for its far right vision for the future of America, with at least five of its contributors espousing white supremacist ideals. The document contains a number of conservative wish-list items that are unpopular among most Americans, including rescinding LGBTQ rights, further deteriorating reproductive rights, privatizing Medicare, upending the federal civil service program, and more.
Despite Trump trying to distance himself from Project 2025, his connections to the project are undeniable. In addition to his praising the document when it was in its infancy in 2022, at least 140 individuals who helped craft the document have worked for Trump in the past. Project 2025 also has many similarities to Trump’s “Agenda 47” platform, which critics have noted “largely borrows” from the tenets of the Heritage-based document.
Reacting to The Post’s reporting, Joyce Vance, a former U.S. Attorney and current law professor at the University of Alabama, wrote in a Substack post that Trump’s dismissal of Project 2025 doesn’t mean that it’s “any less a feature of the Republican landscape.”
“Project 2025 is a wrap. It’s locked, loaded, and ready to go,” Vance, a frequent critic of the former Republican president, said in her post. “If you believe it’s about to disappear or that Trump won’t use any of it, I have some swampland in Florida for you.”
What happens next?
Only a few days remain before the presidential election. To make sure we can continue our vital coverage before Tuesday, we’re asking for your support.
Truthout is funded overwhelmingly by readers like you. Your gift allows us to hold the political candidates accountable, delve into the nuance of complex issues, and stay wholly focused on seeking justice.
No matter what happens on November 5, your gift today ensures that there’s a place for independent journalism in the future – regardless of right-wing suppression, industry corporatization, and any other challenges we have yet to face. Please make a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout today.