Project 2025 director quits after Trump campaign criticism
July 31, 2024
Conservative US think tank Heritage Foundation said on Tuesday the director of its proposed plan to overhaul the US government had stepped down.
The foundation did not provide a reason for Paul Dans' exit but said the so-called Project 2025 would continue.
The project was largely drafted by past aides of former US President Donald Trump. However, the Republican presidential candidate complained that it was portraying itself as an official policymaking arm of his election campaign.
Meanwhile, Democrats have sought to paint the ultraconservative policy blueprint as a glimpse into how extreme another Trump presidency could be.
How did the Trump campaign react?
Trump's co-campaign managers, Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, said they would welcome the "demise" of Project 2025.
"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," they said in a statement.
"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," they said.
What is Project 2025?
The nearly 1,000-page document, published by the Heritage Foundation in 2023, is comprised of detailed policy proposals that hundreds of conservatives put together hoping that Trump would adopt them if elected.
This includes mass deportations and upending the Justice Department and the Education Department, as well as imposing further taxes on tips.
The Heritage Foundation is also compiling lists of thousands of conservatives that could be appointed to government positions in a Trump administration.
Earlier this month, Trump said parts of the project were "seriously extreme." Dans had previously worked for the Trump administration, and the former president himself campaigns on many of the same ideas in Project 2025.
fb/ab (AP, Reuters)