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MIAMI (AP) — Donald Trump on Friday distanced himself from “Project 2025,” a sweeping proposal to overhaul the federal government drafted by his longtime allies and former administration officials, days after the head of the think tank behind the plan suggested a second American revolution.
Trump posted on his social media site: “I know nothing about the 2025 project. I don’t know who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they say, some of the things they say are just ridiculous and outrageous. I wish them good luck in whatever they do, but I have nothing to do with them.”
The 922-page plan outlines a dramatic expansion of presidential powers and plans to fire up to 50,000 government workers and replace them with Trump loyalists. President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has struggled to draw more attention to the agenda, especially as Biden tries to retain fellow Democrats after a disastrous debate.
Trump has outlined his own plans to reshape the government if he wins a second term, including launching the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history and potentially imposing tariffs on all imports. His campaign has previously warned outside allies not to speak on behalf of the former president and suggested their efforts to wait out the transition would be unhelpful.
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, said Tuesday on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast that Republicans are “taking the country back.” Former Virginia Rep. Dave Brat hosted the show for Bannon, who is serving a four-month prison sentence.
“We are in the process of a second American revolution, and it will continue bloodless if the left allows it,” Roberts said.
The comments were widely circulated online and were sharply criticized by the Biden campaign, which issued a statement saying Trump and his allies “dream of destroying the very essence of America through violent revolution.”
Some of those involved in Project 2025 are former senior government officials. The project is led by Paul Dans, who served as chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management in the Trump administration. Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, appeared in one of the Project 2025 videos.
John McEntee, who served as director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel in the Trump administration and is now a senior adviser, told conservative news site The Daily Wire earlier this year that Trump will announce his transition team this summer, at which time the 2025 project team will combine a lot of its work with the campaign.
Trump’s comments on the 2025 plan came before the Republican Party convenes next week to begin drafting its party platform.
The 2025 Project has been preparing its own 180-day agenda for the next administration, which it plans to share privately rather than as part of the Republican president’s public priorities. Russ Vought, a key Trump ally who contributed to the 2025 Project and is drafting the final pillars, is also on the Republican National Committee’s platform-writing committee.
A spokesman for the initiative said Project 2025 was not tied to a specific candidate or campaign.
“We are a coalition of more than 110 conservative groups working to make policy and personnel recommendations for the next conservative president,” a statement said. “But ultimately it is up to that president (and we believe that president will be Trump) to decide which recommendations are implemented.”
The Democratic National Committee said the plan and the Trump campaign are part of the same “Make America Great Again” effort. A Biden campaign spokesman said 2025 staffers are also leading the Republican policy platform.
“Project 2025 is an extreme policy and personnel strategy for a second Trump term that should horrify the American people,” said Amal Moussa.
On Thursday, as the U.S. celebrated Independence Day and Biden prepared for a TV interview after a poor debate performance, the president’s campaign posted a screenshot on X from the dystopian TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” showing a group of women wearing red dresses and white hats from the show lined up by a reflecting pool, with a cross on the far side of the pool where the Washington Monument used to be. The story revolves around women who are stripped of their identities by a totalitarian regime and forced to bear children for other couples.
The post read: “Fourth of July under Trump 2025.”
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