Plans for the project are detailed in a 900+ page policy guide, “Mandate for Leadership,” authored by former Trump administration officials and other extremists. Donald Trump has recently denied any knowledge of the project in a July 5, 2024 Truth Social post: “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it.”
Resources:
Newsweek, Oct. 9, 2024 Donald Trump Says Project 2025 Author ‘Coming on Board’ If Elected
CNN, July 11, 2024, Trump claims not to know who is behind Project 2025. A CNN review found at least 140 people who worked for him are involved
MSNBC Trump denies knowledge of Project 2025, despite multiple connections to allies (Video, 10 min.)
Newsweek Ex-Trump Administration Officials Involved in Project 2025: Full List
Revolving Door Project Former Trump Officials Wrote 25 of the 30 Chapters in the Project 2025 Playbook
Authors of the Mandate for Leadership, by chapter, former Trump officials noted:
Chapter 1: White House Office, Rick Dearborn, former Trump White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Intergovernmental Affairs and Implementation
Chapter 2: Executive Office of the President of the United States, Russ Vought, former Trump Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Chapter 3: Central Personnel Agencies: Donald Devine, Senior Scholar for “The Fund for American Studies” and adjunct scholar at The Heritage Foundation; Dennis Dean Kirk, former Trump Senior Advisor to the Chief Information Officer; and Paul Dans, former Trump Administration Chief of Staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Chapter 4: Department of Defense, Christopher Miller, former Trump Administration Acting Secretary of Defense
Chapter 5: Department of Homeland Security, Ken Cuccinelli, former Trump Administration first as acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and then as the acting deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. Currently National Chairman of the “Election Transparency Initiative”
Chapter 6: Department of State, Kiron K. Skinner, former Trump Administration Director of Policy Planning, US Department of State
Chapter 7: Intelligence Community, Dustin J. Carmack, former Trump Administration Chief of Staff to Director of National Intelligence
Chapter 8: U.S. Agency for Global Media, Mora Namdar. former Trump Administration Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Consular Affairs; Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Mike Gonzalez, Senior Fellow at the Center for International Studies at The Heritage Foundation
Chapter 9: Agency for International Development, Max Primorac, former Trump Administration Acting Chief Operating Officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development
Chapter 10: Department of Agriculture, Daren Bakst, Director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Energy and Environment (CEI is a non-profit libertarian think tank, advancing the principles of limited government)
Chapter 11: Department of Education, Lindsey M. Burke, Director of the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation Lindsey Burke
Chapter 12: Department of Energy and Related Commissions, Bernard L. McNamee, former Trump Administration Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 2018 to 2020
Chapter 13: Environmental Protection Agency, Mandy M. Gunasekara, former Trump administration official at the Environmental Protection Agency
Chapter 14: Department of Health and Human Services, Roger Severino, former Trump administration director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights; appointed by Trump to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States days before President Biden’s inauguration
Chapter 15: Department of Housing and Urban Development, Benjamin S. Carson, Sr., MD, former Trump administration Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Chapter 16: Department of the Interior, William Perry Pendley, former Trump administration acting director of the Bureau of Land Management from 2019 to 2021
Chapter 17: Department of Justice, Gene Hamilton, former Trump administration lawyer and policymaker serving within the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security. Played key roles in ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, creating the administration’s “zero tolerance” family separation policy, and in revoking the Temporary Protected Status of immigrants from Sudan and South Sudan.
Chapter 18: Department of Labor and Related Agencies, Jonathan Berry, former Trump administration acting Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor
Chapter 19: Department of Transportation, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, former Trump administration acting assistant secretary for economic policy at the Department of the Treasury in 2018 and 2019
Chapter 20: Department of Veterans Affairs, Brooks D. Tucker, former Trump administration Acting Chief of Staff of the Department of. Veterans of Affairs
Chapter 21: Department of Commerce, Thomas F. Gilman, former Trump administration Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce
Chapter 22: Department of the Treasury, William L. Walton, former Trump administration 2016 transition team as co-head of economic issues for federal agencies, Stephen Moore, advisor to the 2016 Trump campaign, and David R. Burton, Senior Fellow in Economic Policy at Heritage Foundation
Chapter 23: Export-Import Bank, Veronique de Rugy, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and a nationally syndicated columnist, and Jennifer Hazelton, former Trump administration public affairs official in the State Department in 2017 and public affairs official at the Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2020 and 2021
Chapter 24: Federal Reserve, Paul Winfree, former Trump administration deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy, deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, and director of budget policy (2017). Appointed by Trump to the Fullbright Foreign Scholarship Board in 2019.
Chapter 25: Small Business Administration, Karen Kerrigan, president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council)
Chapter 26: Trade, Peter Navarro, former Trump administration director of the National Trade Council in 201, director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy from 2017 until 2021. He was also a close adviser to Trump, largely on trade. He also advised on the COVID-19 response and Trump’s false election fraud claims, and Kent Lassman, president and CEO of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Chapter 27: Securities and Exchange Commission, David R. Burton, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy in the Heritage Foundation; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Robert Bowes former Trump administration Senior Advisor To The Assistant Secretary Dept. of Housing and Urban Development and Held multiple other positions, including advising Stephen Miller
Chapter 28: Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, former Trump administration official General Counsel of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 2017-2017 and Current Commissioner of the FCC, 2017-present
Chapter 29: Federal Election Commission, Hans A. von Spakovsky, former Trump administration Member of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, 2017-2018
Chapter 30: Federal Trade Commission, Adam Candeub, former Trump administration Acting Assistant Secretary at the Department of Commerce, 2020-2020; Deputy Associate Attorney General, 2020-2021