Project 2025 leader says Trump ‘very supportive’ of their work and lays out plans if he returns to White House

A leader of Project 2025 told undercover reporters that Donald Trump is “very supportive” of their work despite the former president publically distancing himself from the conservative policy agenda.

An undercover journalist and a paid actor from the Centre for Climate Reporting pretended to be relatives of a wealthy donor when they set up a meeting with Russell Vought at a five-star hotel inthe Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, last month.

Vought headed the Office of Management and Budget during the second half of Trump’s first term and has been tipped as a possible chief of staff in a second Trump administration.

Project 2025 consists of roughly 900 pages of reports that the Heritage Foundation think tank aims to have turned into policy in a future Republican administration. Think tanks in Washington often write up policy ideas hoping that they may become legislation.

It includes proposals for shutting down the Department of Education and federal limits on abortion. Democrats have used the plans to attack the Trump campaign and convince voters that his agenda is more conservative than they may think.

Trump has claimed to know nothing about the project and has attempted to distance himself from it, but Vought told the undercover people it is different behind the scenes.

“He’s been at our organization, he’s raised money for our organization, he’s blessed it,” Vought told the reporter during the undercover discussion. “I remember walking into our last day in office and told him what I was going to do. So, he’s very supportive of what we do.”

“There are people like me that have his trust that will be able to get it to him in whatever position we’re at,” Vought said. “The relationships will be there. The trust