In a surprising twist, a recently unearthed video has captured former President Donald Trump enthusiastically endorsing “Project 2025,” a bold initiative by the right-wing Heritage Foundation. This comes in stark contrast to Trump’s current claims of ignorance regarding the project’s existence.
Project 2025, designed to expand executive powers under a hypothetical second Trump administration, aims to overhaul federal bureaucracy by replacing career civil servants with loyalists. The initiative has sparked controversy for its implications on governmental independence.
The revelation stems from footage obtained by NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard, where Trump is seen addressing Heritage Foundation members involved in crafting the plan. “This is a great group,” Trump praises in the video, acknowledging their role in detailing future strategies for his movement.
“This is a great group, and they’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do, and what your movement will do when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America,” Trump told the crowd. “And that’s coming. That’s coming,” he promised.
However, Trump’s recent public statements contradict this earlier endorsement. On social media, he asserted, “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have not seen it, have no idea who is in charge of it, and, unlike our very well received Republican Platform, had nothing to do with it.”
CNN’s investigation into Project 2025 further uncovered surprising connections. The network traced affiliations of over 240 individuals between the project and Trump’s inner circle, despite the former president’s insistence on being uninvolved.
Watch the video below:
Trump, in April '22, keynoted a Heritage dinner as it began work on Project 2025:
“This is a great group & they’re going to lay the groundwork & detail plans for exactly what our movement will do … when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America." pic.twitter.com/2ni0XESMci
— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) July 11, 2024
