We read the 900-page Project 2025 manifesto – what does the ‘Trump blueprint’ actually say?

As much as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump seemingly wants to distance himself from it, ‘Project 2025’ – an initiative founded by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation - continues to surround his campaign to return to the White House in November, with critics fearing the policy proposals contained in its 900 pages will be implemented during a second Trump presidency.

At the start of July, the convicted felon took to his Truth Social platform to claim he “[knows] nothing about Project 2025” and “who is behind it”.

He wrote: “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

Then, at a rally in Michigan later that month, Trump further rubbished the project and its manifesto, branding it “seriously extreme”.

The former president told his supporters: “Like some on the right, severe right, came up with this Project 25 … Some of them I know who they are, but they’re very, very conservative. They’re sort of the opposite of the radical left.

“But I don’t know anything about it. I don’t want to know anything about it.”

Indeed, he does know some of the people involved in Project 2025. According to an analysis by CNN, at least 140 former officials in the Trump administration are linked to the project.

Project 2025 also notes in the document’s afterword that 64 per cent of the policy recommendations in its 2016 publication were implemented within Trump’s first year in office.

Oh, and the chief political action committee backing the Republican has been running adverts promoting the far-right manifesto, too, and tying it to Trump by name.

A Project 2025 spokesperson has said it doesn’t “speak for any candidate or campaign”, but given they also said the document – titled Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise – concerns “recommendations for the next conservative president” which they “believe will be President Trump”, the candidate and the project have become fairly synonymous.

According to Democratic National Committee spokesperson Aida Ross: “Donald Trump and Project 2025 are one big MAGA operation.

“Trump can’t hide his ties to the dangerous, unhinged MAGA loyalists at Project 2025, and the American people will stop them at the ballot box in November.”

But what exactly does the document – totalling more than 900 pages – actually recommend the “next conservative president” does when in office?

Well, we’ve read it all so you don’t have to. You’re welcome.

“Deconstruct the Administrative State”

The introductory sections of the manifesto slam “the long march of cultural Marxism through our institutions” (a conspiracy theory which has been “openly used by antisemites, neo-Nazis and others with nefarious intentions”, per the Antisemitism Policy Trust) and describes Project 2025’s goal as the assembly of “an army of aligned, vetted, trained, and prepared conservatives to go to work on Day One to deconstruct the Administrative State”.

What’s that? Well, according to Project 2025, it’s the “policymaking work done by the bureaucracies of all the federal government’s departments, agencies, and millions of employees”.

The deconstruction of the “administrative state”, in their view, includes the abolition of the Department for Education and Department of Homeland Security – yes, really.

The reasoning for scrapping the former is because it is a “convenient one-stop shop for the woke education cartel”.

By the way, the word “woke” appears on a grand total of 27 pages.

Oh, and they want to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (they insist this won’t cause NPR or PBS to “file for bankruptcy”) and close the US Secret Service’s field offices “throughout the country and internationally”.

They say the USSS should instead transfer all investigations “not related to its protective function” to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of the Treasury, while the US Coast Guard should be moved to the DOJ and to the Department of Defense in the case of “full-scale war”.

“Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children”

Strap in for a whole host of outdated views of the family, and transphobic policy proposals, starting with the claim that “fatherlessness is one of the principal sources of American poverty, crime, mental illness, teen suicide, substance abuse, rejection of the church, and high school dropouts” and that “so many of the problems government programmes are designed to solve – but can’t – are ultimately problems created by the crisis of marriage and the family”.

On the subject of gender, Project 2025 writes: “The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.”

Other proposals include:

• legislation on non-discrimination on the basis of sex in education programmes (known as 'Title IX’) to be amended to define ‘sex’ as meaning “only biological sex recognised at birth”, and for the next administration to take note of “how radical gender ideology is having a devastating effect on school-aged children today – especially young girls”
• banning public education employees and contractors from using a name for a student which isn’t on their birth certificate, or pronouns different from their biological sex, without the written permission of their parents or guardians
• prohibiting teachers from keeping “secrets about a child” from their parents or guardians
• removing a “list of shame” on the Department for Education’s website of educational institutions which have applied for a religious exemption to Title IX requirements

In truly bizarre comments about the family which disregard same-sex couples, the document states: “Families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society.

“Unfortunately, family policies and programs under President Biden’s HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] are fraught with agenda items focusing on “LGBTQ+ equity,” subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.

“Homes with non-related ‘boyfriends’ present are among the most dangerous place for a child to be. HHS should prioritise married father engagement in its messaging, health and welfare policies.”

They also want the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop collecting data on gender identity, and the National Institute for Health to “fund studies into the short-term and long-term negative effects of cross-sex interventions, including 'affirmation,' puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries, and the likelihood of desistence if young people are given counselling that does not include medical or social interventions.”

Regulations outlawing discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity (including transgender identity) and sex characteristics should be rescinded, they write.

A Parents’ Bill of Rights, they argue, would “give families a fair hearing in court” when it comes to any federal government policy that undermines their parental rights.

Other recommended educational changes include school officials not requiring students and teachers to “believe that individuals are guilty or responsible for the actions of others based on race or ethnicity” (one of many attacks on ‘critical race theory’) and not providing meals to students if they’re not in summer school.

As for abortion policy, they don’t want Planned Parenthood to receive Medicaid funds, and want guidance issued to tell states they are free to defund the sexual healthcare organisation in their Medicaid plans.

Other proposals include passing the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would require the provision of “proper medical care” to child abortion survivors, and eliminating the HHS taskforce on access to reproductive healthcare and replace it with a “pro-life task force”.

They also want to outlaw mailed abortion pills, reverse government approval of chemical abortion drugs and fund studies into “the risks and complications of abortion”.

“Climate fanaticism”

“The Biden Administration’s climate fanaticism will need a whole-of-government unwinding,” the document reads, and according to Project 2025, that means ending the “war” on fossil fuels and federal subsidies on electric vehicles.

They want offshore oil and natural gas lease sales to be conducted “to the maximum extent permitted under the 2023-2028 lease programme”, government to oppose the idea of “climate reparations” for developing countries and the end of energy efficiency standards for commercial and household appliances, and the scrapping of carbon capture programmes.

The manifesto adds: “The new energy crisis is caused not by a lack of resources, but by extreme ‘green’ policies. Under the rubrics of ‘combating climate change’ and ‘ESG’ (environmental, social, and governance), the Biden Administration, Congress, and various states, as well as Wall Street investors, international corporations, and progressive special-interest groups, are changing America’s energy landscape.

“At its very heart, environmental extremism is decidedly anti-human. Stewardship and conservation are supplanted by population control and economic regression. Environmental ideologues would ban the fuels that run almost all of the world’s cars, planes, factories, farms, and electricity grids.”

It also calls for a number of climate-related bodies to be downsized or 'eliminated', including the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the Clean Energy Corps, the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations and the Office for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

Big Tech

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Turning to the digital arena, the policy document wants the future president to launch a “thorough review of federal policy regarding free speech online” and come up with “policy solutions to address big tech’s censorship of speech”.

Project 2025 also calls for an end to the involvement of US Cyber Command in efforts to “’fortify’ US elections” so the president can “eliminate the perception that DOD is engaging in partisan politics”, and oppose plans around intellectual property waivers for things such as Covid-19 vaccines.

The initiative also takes a close look at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which, per the Department of Justice, “provides immunity to online platforms from civil liability based on third-party content and for the removal of content in certain circumstances”, but has also caused concern around “illicit activity” and the moderation of content “with little transparency or accountability”.

And so, Project 2025 wants:

• the Federal Communications Commission to clarify Section 230 doesn’t apply to every decision from a platform, but rather “only when a platform does not remove information provided by someone else”
• a “transparent appeals process” around the takedown of content on platforms
• Congress to ensure companies “no longer have carte blanche to censor protected speech while maintaining their Section 230 protections”
• the elimination of court immunities around Section 230
• the Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans to carry out a full evaluation of “any of the department’s work, in coordination with social media outlets, to censor or otherwise change or affect Americans’ speech”, with the results of the report made public and any personnel involved in such activity sacked.
• the end of both the FBI and the US’ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s work on misinformation and disinformation because “the federal government cannot be the arbiter of truth”

“Defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders and bounty against global threats”

In a slew of policy proposals taking aim at China, Project 2025 calls for:

• an end to China’s ‘developing nation’ status in international partnerships
• the rejoining of the Trans-Pacific Partnership to “contain Chinese commercial imperialism”
• the Chinese Communist Party to be “held accountable for the Covid-19 virus”, which it says “originated as a genetically engineered virus”, and possibly collect damages “to the trillions of dollars” from the CCP because of the pandemic
• a significant reduction or the elimination of visas being issued to Chinese students or researchers coming to the US to “prevent espionage and information harvesting”
• the ban of “all Chinese social media apps such as TikTok and WeChat” by adding them to the ‘Entity List’ which would “prevent users from program updates, which would quickly make these apps non-operational in the United States”
• an ‘article X’ for China
• the “effective denial defence of Taiwan”
• “defeating the threat of the Chinese Communist Party” to be its “highest priority”

On the military, it slams “social engineering” around issues such as “climate change, critical race theory [and] manufactured extremism”, calling for the elimination of “Marxist indoctrination and critical race theory programmes” and diversity, equality and inclusion offices and its staff.

There's calls for an increase in budgets for the army and the air force – plus the consideration of a new “Space Force Academy”.

Project 2025 also wants the military’s medical treatment exceptions for those who are HIV-positive or experience gender dysphoria to be removed, and a reversal of policies which allow transgender people to serve in the military.

“Gender dysphoria is incompatible with the demands of military service, and the use of public monies for transgender surgeries or to facilitate abortion for service members should be ended,” they write.

They add that service members who were kicked out for not receiving the Covid vaccine should be reinstated with backpay, and that all members of the Homeland Security Advisory Committee should be replaced.

Project 2025 also wants "all students in schools that receive federal funding" to take the military entrance exam.

Oh, and they want the US to “indicate a willingness to conduct nuclear tests in response to adversary nuclear developments if necessary”, fund the deployment of nuclear warheads and production of plutonium pits, and develop sites for the “storing of civilian nuclear waste”.

Now, on the political hot potato that is immigration, policy proposals include:

• “aggressively building” Trump’s border wall along the US southern border, not least because Mexico is “arguably functioning as a failed state run by drug cartels”
• restarting the use of horseback-mounted Border Patrol
• working to “eliminate or significantly reduce the number of visas issued to foreign students from enemy nations”
• requiring those rejected for any “benefit or status adjudication” to leave the US immediately while the US Citizenship and Immigration Services clears up its backlog
• a review of the Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans’ efforts on tackling domestic terrorism to “ensure they are consistent with the president’s priorities”
• only allowing US citizens and “lawful permanent residents” to live in federally subsidised accommodation, with “mixed-status families” also prohibited from living in such housing
• deny access to education loans for those who are not US citizens, not “lawful permanent residents”, or are students at schools providing in-state tuition to “illegal aliens”
• Congress mandating that all new contracts for goods and services for the federal government should come from US contractors where “at least 70 per cent” of its employees are American citizens, increasing to a requirement of “at least 95 per cent over a 10-year period”
• Congress allowing employers to “have the freedom to make hiring Americans a priority”
• giving the secretary of homeland security the right – subject to presidential approval - to “waive all legal requirements” of Title 8 immigration rules to “avert or curtail the mass migration”, in spite of or “notwithstanding” any other legal requirement
• ending funds to nongovernmental organisations to “process and transport illegal aliens into and throughout the United States”, with funds redirected to “secure the border, detain aliens and provide space for immigration court proceedings”
• a “merit-based immigration system that rewards high-skilled aliens” and only awards visas to the “best and brightest”
• end T and U visa types, which support victims of “qualifying criminal activities” such as human trafficking, because “victimisation should not be a basis for an immigration benefit”
• repealing legislation which provides immigration benefits to unaccompanied migrant children
• the vetting of Afghan refugees in the US who were evacuated during the country’s withdrawal of Afghanistan, as part of an investigation into “many aliens who exploited President Biden’s open border for potentially nefarious purposes”

• defunding the Palestinian Authority
• strengthening relations with Saudi Arabia
• an “urgent development” with the UK before “London slips back into the orbit of the EU”
• the end of “blind support for international organisations”, with the launch of a “comprehensive cost-benefit analysis” of America’s involvement in all international organisations
• the end of funding abortions in international programmes
• restrictions on World Health Organization funding, not least because it is “willing to support the oppression of basic human rights” due to its “close relationship” to the People’s Republic of China
• designating a political appointee to work on ensuring “language promoting abortion” is removed from “UN documents, policy statements and technical literature”
• ending “ineffective and counterproductive non-proliferation activities” around nuclear weapons such as those concerning Iran and the United Nations

The FBI and Dr Fauci

Project 2025 wants the FBI to conduct an “immediate, comprehensive review” of all its major investigations and end those which are “unlawful or contrary to the national interest” and issue a public report on its findings.

And in a furious rant aimed at the president’s former chief medical adviser, Dr Anthony Fauci, the document reads: “Unaccountable bureaucrats like Anthony Fauci should never again have such broad, unchecked power to issue health ‘guidelines’ that will certainly be the basis for federal and state mandates.

“Never again should public health bureaucrats be allowed to hide information, ignore information, or mislead the public concerning the efficacy or dangers associated with any recommended health interventions because they believe it may lead to hesitancy on the part of the public.

“The only way to restore public trust in HHS as an institution capable of acting responsibly during a health emergency is through the best of disinfectants - light.”

Quite the interesting comment to make considering Donald Trump received widespread condemnation for suggesting Covid could be defeated using bleach and sunlight…

Elsewhere, they want damages paid to all medical professionals who lost their jobs because of the Covid vaccine mandate.

Scrutiny of the president

They write: “The President must enforce the Constitution and laws as written, rather than proclaiming new ‘law’ unilaterally. Presidents should not issue mask or vaccine mandates, arbitrarily transfer student loan debt, or issue monarchical mandates of any sort. Legislatures make the laws in a republic, not executives.

“It is crucial that all three branches of the federal government respect what Madison called the “double security” to our liberties: the separation of powers among the three branches, and the separation of powers between the federal government and the states.”

The Project also wants visitor logs for all workplaces and residencies used by the president, because Biden is “spending a historic amount of time for a president at his Delaware residence” which is leaving “American people in the dark as to who is influencing the highest levels of their own government”.

While calling for this level of scrutiny around the president, Project 2025 thinks the US Department of State should place “political appointees in positions that do not require Senate confirmation” and increase its number of political appointees to help with its management.

So all in all, Project 2025 is pretty terrifying...

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