`

Donald Trump’s win in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Elections has intensified social media discourse regarding Project 2025, with many worried about its implications. What exactly is Project 2025?

Many people have expressed concerns over the repercussions of the plan’s execution since there are many socio-political areas affected by its author’s call for change. The 900-page book created by the Heritage Foundation was published in April 2023. Also known as “Mandate for Leadership”, it is claimed to be authored by more than 400 conservative scholars and policy experts and serves as somewhat of a blueprint to “take down the Deep State and return the government to the people”, as said on their website.

The Heritage Foundation has boasted that they have influenced Donald Trump during his first term in office in 2017, specifically by claiming his administration applied two thirds of the policies recommended. However, some of the policy recommendations and stances included in the work have become the subject of heated controversy.

For example, there are multiple mentions of abortion in the "Presidential Transition Project," another name for Project 2025. While it does not call for an outright federal ban, it does propose withdrawing the “morning after pill” mifepristone.

On the case of immigration, one of the first policy suggestions on the website’s home page states: “Secure the border, finish building the wall, and deport illegal aliens”. This is in reference to one of the key policies Trump introduced while campaigning in 2016: building a wall to prevent illegal immigrants in Mexico from entering the U.S.

In regards to education, Project 2025 proposes to abolish the Department of Education in favor of parental and school control over education, specifically to avoid a “woke” ideology that has apparently been promoted through diversity programs in schools.

A misconception about Project 2025 is that it’s a plan that Trump will undoubtedly put into place when inaugurated. Both Trump and the creators of Project 2025 deny this and are attempting to distance themselves from each other.

Trump has denied having anything to do with Project 2025, particularly by posting about the plan on his own social media platform, Truth Social. "I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying, and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."

On the official Project 2025 website, it is stated that Donald Trump did not create the plan. Instead, it was created by more than 100 organizations from the conservative movement through the Heritage Foundation. Although the Heritage Foundation has attempted to separate itself from the Trump Administration, some actions and statements go against this notion. While a spokesperson for Project 2025 told CNN that it “does not speak for any candidate or campaign”, the spokesperson followed that statement by saying “It is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to use”. Whether Trump appreciates it or not, there seem to be at least 140 people who worked for him involved in the creation of Project 2025, according to CNN.

Project 2025 hopes to introduce these policies immediately after Trump’s inauguration in January. However, based on Trump’s reaction to the project, he seems unlikely to take steps toward complete implementation. Rather, similar to his previous run, since many of his party’s beliefs overlap with this project, he would at least be influenced by these ideas, possibly attempting to introduce them to law, despite pushback from Democrats. With Republicans having full control of Congress, winning both the House of Representatives and the Senate, it seems that these policies are more likely to be implemented than they would be without a full trifecta.