A conservative think tank is moving ahead with its plan to maneuver adherents of a controversial policy blueprint — which has been disavowed by former President Donald Trump and denounced by President Biden’s re-election campaign — into a potential second Trump administration, according to an email reviewed by The Post.
The message from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 to a potential recruit thanks them “for your interest in serving in the next Administration” and lets them know that “[w]e are planning on holding more events this summer so that we can meet with and train more top applicants for government service.”
An earlier Project 2025 event, the email stated, was attended by 130 “top candidates” and covered “two full days of panels, breakout sessions and networking opportunities with government experts.”
“The attendees,” the letter adds, “are now prepared with invaluable knowledge to lead in the next conservative administration.”
Project 2025, a collaboration of dozens of right-wing groups organized by Heritage, says it is meant to “get into the business of restoring this country through the combination of the right policies and well-trained people.”
The project’s output includes a “180-day playbook” for the first six months of a new presidential administration, as well as a book called “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.”
The suggestions in the book — which features contributions from ex-Trump administration officials Ken Cuccinelli, Rick Dearborn and Christopher Miller — include restoring “the family as the centerpiece of American life,” outlawing pornography, closing the border, ending economic engagement with China, firing “nonperforming” federal employees, and using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to keep data on abortions.
“I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it,” Trump posted on Truth Social at the time. “I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”
Project 2025 has said it does “not speak for any candidate or campaign” and that it will be up to the next GOP president “to decide which recommendations to implement.”
Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez told The Post Wednesday in response to an inquiry about the email that they have “been abundantly clear” about any ties to the Project 2025 effort.
“The president has addressed this, the campaign has addressed this,” Alvarez added.
The 2024 Republican campaign platform, released Monday, does not follow many of Project 2025’s guidelines, and especially takes a difference stance on abortion.
Project 2025 states that the next Republican president should “enact the most robust protections for the unborn that Congress will support.”
But both Trump and the Republican platform indicate regulation of abortion will be left to the states.
“We will oppose Late Term Abortion, while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments),” the platform notes.
The Heritage Foundation will be hosting a panel at next week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to discuss their policies.
Project 2025 did not respond to an inquiry from The Post.
