(AFP) – The executive behind a radical governing blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term in office stepped down Tuesday, prompting a statement from the Republican presidential candidate’s campaign welcoming the project’s “demise.” Paul Dans built the hard-right Project 2025 “from scratch and bravely led this endeavor over the past two years,” Kevin Roberts, president of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank that launched the effort, said in a statement. He didn’t give a reason for the shake-up but added that he would lead the project and see it “conclude its policy drafting” after the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next month.
Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025 amid a torrent of criticism from Congress, the White House and civil society groups, despite its numerous links to figures from his inner circle, and he again disavowed it on Tuesday. “President Trump’s campaign has been very clear for over a year that Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign or the president in any way,” the campaign said in a statement. “Reports of Project 2025’s demise would be greatly welcomed and should serve as notice to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign — it will not end well for you.”
A policy platform for remaking the federal government in Trump’s image, Project 2025 has been characterized by opponents as an authoritarian laundry list of right-wing fantasies. Its 887-page “Mandate for Leadership” sets out how to replace thousands of federal workers with ultra-conservative loyalists should Trump prevail in November. It calls for a makeover of almost every function of the federal government, reshaping its agencies to centralize power in the White House and push policy to the right on everything from abortion to immigration.
Trump rejected the effort after it was harshly criticized, claiming to “know nothing” about the manifesto or the figures behind it. But many of the more extreme proposals in the handbook are indistinguishable from Trump’s remarks at his rallies and his own video statements on his Agenda 47 website. The former president lauded the effort at a Heritage Foundation dinner in April 2022, previewing that it would be laying the groundwork “for exactly what our movement will do” in a second term.
The Democrats have pointed to numerous members of Trump’s inner circle who have been linked to the handbook or helped craft it, from long-time senior aide Stephen Miller to former cabinet figures Ben Carson and Christopher Miller. The campaign of Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, said in a statement that Project 2025 was still “on the ballot” in November’s election. “Vice President Harris has made a career out of exposing liars and frauds like Donald Trump, and stopping dangerous plots like Project 2025 from making people’s lives worse,” it said. “This election won’t be any different.”
© 2024 AFP
