From Denial to Deployment: How Trump’s Project 2025 Agenda Is Dismantling Decades of Progress

Donald Trump’s return to power has revealed a slow but deliberate dismantling of hard-fought social, civil, and institutional gains, with Project 2025 serving as a clear roadmap despite his earlier denials. During the campaign, Trump insisted he had “nothing to do with Project 2025,” dismissing concern as “ridiculous” and claiming ignorance about its authors. Yet within months of retaking office, the policy blueprint he disavowed began materializing across the federal government, confirming long-held fears about the direction of his leadership.

Project 2025, a 900-page plan led by the Heritage Foundation, laid out sweeping changes to immigration, education, federal employment, and civil rights protections. California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated plainly, “A lot of the policies from Day 1 to the last day and in between that the administration has adopted are right out of Project 2025.” He described the document as advance notice of what was coming: “The existence of Project 2025 was the Trump administration telling us exactly what they were going to do and sending it to us in writing.”

Public concern reached a tipping point in 2024 when Taraji P. Henson warned viewers during the BET Awards, “Pay attention. It’s not a secret. Look it up! They are attacking our most vulnerable citizens. The Project 2025 plan is not a game.” Her words proved prophetic. Trump moved quickly after inauguration, declaring, “As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.” He eliminated diversity and inclusion programs, accelerated mass immigration actions, and began dismantling the Department of Education.

Despite distancing himself from the project during the campaign, Trump appointed Russell Vought, a chief architect of Project 2025, to lead the Office of Management and Budget. Soon after, executive orders mirrored the plan almost line by line. Paul Dans, the project’s director, openly celebrated the alignment, saying, “Every day that President Trump rolls out another Project 2025 item, it’s really an endorsement of our work.”

While the White House insists Trump is simply enacting what voters approved, the cumulative impact tells a different story. Progress built over decades is being unraveled through executive power, strategic appointments, and calculated messaging. Trump later dropped any pretense of distance, boasting of meeting “Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame,” while threatening to dismantle federal agencies. The pattern is unmistakable: denial, implementation, and eventual embrace, leaving lasting damage in its wake.

Link: NPR