Hi everyone! As I wrote last month, Project 2025 “stands as the single most successful policy initiative of the entire Trump era.” Over the past year, I’ve closely watched how the Trump administration has implemented many of the policies and ideas outlined in Project 2025:
- Donald Trump has laid off hundreds of thousands of federal employees, slashed environmental regulations, disregarded key civil-rights-enforcement methods, dismantled anything that might be construed as DEI, and set the agenda for aggressive immigration policies.
- The White House fired line prosecutors, and Trump has made disputed appointments of his own former personal attorneys to lead U.S. Attorney’s Offices. Prosecutors have also brought charges against many of Trump’s political foes.
- The administration has dabbled in impounding funds appropriated by Congress, despite a law barring this. It has also mounted a major assault on the independence of regulatory agencies, as established by Congress, and Trump has fired multiple appointees, sometimes in apparent violation of law, though the Supreme Court has allowed him to proceed.
Trump’s expansion of presidential powers will allow his administration to achieve more of Project 2025’s ambitions in the coming year and beyond. In this AMA, I’ll answer questions about what goals of Project 2025 have been accomplished so far, the ways in which Project 2025 has not yet succeeded, and what we could expect moving forward. Ask me anything!
Proof photo: https://x.com/TheAtlantic/status/2009615033790091316?s=20
Hi Reddit! I’m David Graham, a staff writer at The Atlantic, and I published a book last year about Project 2025. I’m here to discuss how much of Project 2025 the Trump administration has already enacted, and what might be coming up this year. Ask me anything.
byu/theatlantic inpolitics
44 Comments
What goals of Project 2025 have been accomplished so far, what are the ways which Project 2025 has not yet succeeded, and what could we expect moving forward?
So Trump’s literally dismantling the federal government while 900k workers are furloughed and the economy tanks, and the Democrats are just… what? Asking nicely? RELEASE THE STRATEGY. This shutdown proves Project 2025 is working exactly as designed – destroy institutions, consolidate power, and let working people starve. Where’s the actual resistance?
Going forward, what will Project 2025 mean for the LGBT community? What assault on our rights comes next?
how likely do u think the public school kids get drafted into the military is?
P2025 sure lays it all out there for their authoritarian takeover. They sold Trump as their front man around twelve years ago and now they’re running amok controlling all the levers of power. The only thing stopping pure fascism is the Military staying pretty independent in the overall.
I grew up in a very conservative area, and heard people advocating for and everything in Project 2025, frequently. The difference now seems to be a willingness on the part of the Republicans in power to ignore rules and courts.
I guess my question is: Why are people acting like Project 2025 is a secret agenda? Why are they so shocked by it, when it’s what the right wing’s been pushing for so long?
Edited for punctuation/clairty
Hi David, what can be done to slow down and/or reverse components of Project 2025?
For example, limiting access to reproductive health care, criminalizing people who seek reproductive health care and their medical doctors who provide health care services.
Thank you!
Could you comment on what you said (or didn’t say) about Project 2025 before the presidential election in 2024? Many members of the media uncritically spread Trump’s lies that he had nothing to do with Project 2025 resulting in the America we have to live in now. Thank you.
Which of the accomplished goals do you believe will have the greatest long-term impact?
Which of the likely actions coming this year are you most worried about?
Hello, European citizen here.
The Trump administration has burned a lot of bridges abroad, what with everything regarding Venezuela and Greenland. How much of it has been part of Project 2025, and how much of it is improvised distractions from domestic matters (ie economic problems, Epstein files)?
How do Trump’s recent foreign relations policies (military intervention in Venezuela, threatening Greenland, Canada, Mexico, Columbia) align with P2025 goals? What foreign relations goals stated in P2025 have yet to be attempted/achieved?
Of Trump and Heritage Foundation, which do you think most easily survives without the other? Is Project 2025 fortuitously riding the coattails of a generational, cult-of-personality demagogue, or is Trump successful because of HF choosing him as their vessel?
EDIT: by “survives,” I really mean “matters.” Are they a uniquely perfect storm together? Could Trump have done what he’s done without their planning? Is HF likely to successfully select the “next Trump” in 2028. Whose blessing does a 2028 candidate need?
Have you looked into Curtis Yarvin and RAGE? There is also a lot of overlap between the two and Trumps quest for land makes more sense under RAGE. Trump is a person who covets power and Thiel and Yarvin aren’t particularly concerned about the land they are using for their idea but they understand they need land. Elon’s role was closer to RAGE than Project 2025. JD Vance fits RAGE over project 2025. I know you are asking yourself where is this new account with this conspiracy theory BS coming from?
Here are some trails of proof or weird events
Yarvin was the conguest of honor at this inauguration.
RAGE is what Elon did.
Thiel had his hands in the first term but after Charlottesville Ivanka pressured her dad to cut ties with and he did. Fast forward Trump had some legal problems and is asked to leave his bank. A few months later there is another problem but not with Trump but the same banker. She is investigated and this time she is forced out of banking (what she did with Trump wasn’t bad enough to cost her that job but this was) it involved Jared and Ivanka Kushner and you probably never reported on it. Peter Thiel has been close with the bank and his father before him, Thiel has technology that can gather that information and he is a vindictive person see Gawker. So he likely is the reason she is absent this time. That Jared is only present as a Saudi representative. Thiel has leverage and Trump will do just about anything to hold power and protect Ivanka. Peter and Yarvin will do just about anything to inact their plan. They envision JD Vance as their CEO. They envision no democracy, no constitution, no congress just a group of wealthy billionaires who manage the country and a CEO. Likely not Trump, unless Trump provides land they seem on pace to take America. Which aeems to be called Project 2025. Thiel is an Evangelical sonthe ovelap may make aense.
My child has a profound disability that needs lifelong funding by Medicaid Medicare. Even if 80% of Project 2025 is implemented during Trump’s second term, what will my child’s future look like? Should I be concerned about the return of institutionalization and the dehumanization of people with disabilities? Are they not included in the framework of the Project 2025 Christian nuclear family?
Does Project 2025 resemble the [Business Plot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot) and who will be our Smedley Butler?
What similar plans have been crafted in the past in other countries?
Which ones were able to move forward, which ones were stopped, and how?
What’s the end goal/game of project 2025? I’ve heard of it but am far from educated and have been driven to actively avoid current events for the sake of my mental health.
In your extensive research, what’s the closest few equivalents in existence right now from the left-leaning think tanks? Is anyone driving the Strategy Bus for the Democrats, especially organized efforts outside the elected-officials arena?
How do we stop this?
How will the policies enacted in the first year of President Trump’s second term affect future policies from Republican Presidents?
Thanks David! Does Unitary Executive Theory per Heritage Foundation require a socially conservative president, ie one believing in class, race, gender, and economic hierarchies? If yes, then how do the 2025 proponents deal with the possibility of a progressive president? Do they seek to eliminate this possibility through structural means? Or is it something 2025 planners overlook?
David, thank you for coming to talk. From your perspective, can we democracy our way out of this mess? With power so unilaterally seized and a reasonable segment of congress toeing the line to the reigning entity, is there any clear and democratic recourse available? From my perspective the situation is urgently emergent, we may not have time to vote or legislate here, and attempts to do so will be obstructed by any means necessary. At what point do other options such as general strike make sense? What are the options you see?
Why do you think that the major media outlets as a group did not dig deeply into Project 2025 before the election given the connections between the Trump campaign and the Heritage Foundation?
Hi David. Thank you for all your work, your columns are always my first stop when a new issue drops.
I’m wondering though, has Pete Hegseth slid into any more of your Atlantic colleagues’ DMs lately?
The judiciary, including Trump 1.0 appointees, has been a burr in the saddle for this administration. What anti-judicial measures might we expect in 2026?
Thank you for doing this AMA. How much of Project 2025 do you think can be reversed by Trump’s successor (assuming it is a Democrat), and how much will have more of an irreversible, lasting impact?
Moving forward, how can we expect the administration to continue to target women with the intent to drive them back into the home and out of economic and public life?
Hi David. I’m not American, but I’ve been closely following US politics for a long time.
Project 2025 is massive. While you’ve highlighted the successes from the administration’s perspective, what is the biggest or most radical part of the mandate that they haven’t been able to touch yet? What’s the primary roadblock holding that specific part back?
Have you looked into the relationship between Opus Dei in America and Project 2025 / Heritage Foundation? I ask because in 2007 I worked in Washington and found it quite alarming when behind closed doors, certain state officials were projecting their superiority about the “American Empire” and a desire to make a new Rome in Washington. Since then, Alito and other ultra Catholics have established very very concerning relationships with Opus Dei members here in the U.S. that even the Catholic Church in Rome has either denounced or excommunicated members….
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions. I’ve been paying close attention to politics recently, as tiring as it can be, and it’s clear that Project 2025 was not the hoax Trump and co made it out to be. Many of my colleagues and friends were surprised to see Venezuela targeted, but it seems that was always part of the plan. While it’s not an “I told you so” situation, it does feel like society has largely forgotten that [most of] these seemingly random actions have been laid out in considerable detail. We’ve quickly gone from theoretical blueprint to an active operational phase. We’re past “what is it” and now analyzing the feasibility and political cost of this operation underway.
I could ask many questions, but here’s one (kinda):
What do you anticipate as the primary short-term goals for 2026, and which “plot threads” do you foresee failing due to structural friction? For example, the legal challenge to Birthright Citizenship faces steep 14th Amendment precedents in the upcoming Trump v. Barbara case. Similarly, while the Department of Education is being gutted via interagency transfers, the bipartisan Senate rejection of Title I cuts suggests that the fiscal reality for rural states will prevent the department’s total elimination. The concept of the “Rural Republican” is kind of an Achilles heel for this administration. Are we seeing a shift from “wholesale dismantling” to “permanent administrative stalemate” and where do you expect it to go from there? Do we expect some sort of pause on some of these less popular moves since 2026 is a midterm year?
Apologies, that’s definitely not just one question.
Other than implementing christian society ideology, can you cite examples of how the authors of Project 2025 have already personally benefitted from the policies?
Hi, David. Project 2025 was reported on extensively during the election and was tremendously unpopular. However, last summer, [only 26% of Republicans](https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/50035-what-americans-think-about-project-2025) agreed that Trump supported Project 2025. Could you and your colleagues have done anything differently to reach them more effectively?
What is Project 2025’s “Final Solution” for African-Americans and other POC, religious, and sexual minorities living in the United States and when do you suggest they should leave for their safety and continued survival?
I might be way too late to the party, but as someone who has also read Project 2025 I’m continuously disappointed that it’s not referenced in the media or as widely understood. Many, or even mostly all, of the actions of the Trump administration can be either directly found, or logically based off of, what’s in the plan. Yet even though the plan was written down for everyone to see people, lay persons, media, and even experts appear to be routinely surprised by the administrations actions. Even though all they’d have to have done is turn to the next page in Project 2025.
How do you feel about how widespread, or not, the understanding of Project 2025 is and whether that is harming our ability to predict and respond to the administrations actions?
Thank you for the AMA. What do you think is an overlooked item on the Project 2025 list that could have broad consequences for U.S. society if enabled?
You should work for a different publication, one that doesn’t launder fascism through the lens of reactionary centrism.
After Jan 6 I remember reading an article that included how nervous foreign partners were Jan 6 would be successful because it would have forced mass embargoes on the US, which would have been a mess. Now it feels like Trump is trying to insulate key US industries and secure resources to buffer the impact of said embargo.
Is this all in my head, or is Project 2025 really willing to risk mass sanctions from other countries in order to achieve their desired goals?
Why weren’t the Dems prepared to counter Project 2025 from the start? It was a public document, but it seems like the Dems were caught flat footed for months as the GOP moved quickly and effectively to steamroll basically everything.
hey thanks for writing this book,
I recently Came across a YouTube video where
I saw you on The Washington week and learned about your book, which I have downloaded on audible, and very much looking forward to getting into this weekend.
I’ll admit I am not a US citizen, more of a concerned friend from across the pond.
Trump seems to be providing big oil with a veritable wish list
Of stifling tactics, standard rollbacks, regulation busting, and industrial self sabotage in terms of progress towards a wider adoption of clean energy, and climate science,
a real, fuck your planet buddy approach.
All of which seems like a continuation of his first term, but now on steroids, and it’s happening so fast
With trump bruising his hand by signing so many executive orders.
(which is one theory out there)
We all know he can do a whole lot more damage between now and the midterms.
But
If the Dems are able to ride a wave of snowballing outrage come November and win both houses of Congress
Would they have the power to then stop the rot, investigate, and expose by holding hearings some of these abuses of power ?
And
What would that look like ?
when accountability and oversight make a suprise comeback
Instead of the fear mongering, I would like to see a discussion of all the ways he and project 2025 have failed and been forced to accept defeat.
Oh I do not believe the future is as dire as you make it out to be.
A few deadly red state natural disasters without FEMA will change people’s minds awfully fast. (Think Nancy Reagan’s pivot on stem cell research once Reagan got Alzheimers.)
Plus, there’s no question the post-Trump GOP will be a fiesta of backstabbing grifters – it already is and he’s still around. In a few years, Rupert Murdoch, Putin, and more than a few of the billionaires donors (Daddy Ellison) won’t be around anymore. The rapidly-aging Boomer voter base will end.
The Epstein files will continue to drip drip drip.
Most crucially, the authors of Project 2025 seem to think they can control the culture – and the world – but the enormous popularity of a show like Heated Rivalry, and the many recent (and upcoming) Democratic wins coupled with GOP resignations (like Marjorie Taylor Green’s) will continue to diminish and weaken their brand.
Why haven’t you taken any of those factors into account?
Looking back, how would you describe the difference between Obama’s stance and speech decrying illegal immigration, and the current DNC’s stance on it, in relation to the Trump presidency?
If you had to guess, which countries will trump militarily go after before Dec 2028? Why? Also, do you think that there is there any chance he ever succeeds in his acquisition to acquire Greenland for the US? Why or why not?
Is there an agenda to defund public primary and secondary school systems and funnel the public funding to charter schools and churches?