Russell Vought has made private claims that Project 2025 is ready to be “plugged right in” if Trump wins in November.
However, a video of Vought that was secretly recorded and released on Thursday provides insight into one of the minds behind a far-right policy agenda from which Donald Trump has distanced himself in recent weeks.
Secret Recording
A meeting with Vought was secretly recorded by two activists from the non-profit Centre for Climate Reporting.
On Thursday, the activists published a video of the meeting, in which Vought talks openly about what the plan will mean for America, the work he did behind the scenes to prepare it, and how supportive Trump was of its creation.
“Rehabilitate Christian Nationalism”
In the video, Vought stated that his group has been putting in a lot of effort to draft a number of plans to “rehabilitate Christian nationalism,” reduce the autonomy of government agencies, and block funding for Planned Parenthood.
Vought’s name has been mentioned as a potential White House chief of staff in the event of a second Trump presidency.
“Key Architect”
Under the Trump administration, Vought was the director of the Office of Management and Budget.
In 2021, he founded the Center for Renewing America, one of the organizations that collaborated with the Heritage Foundation to create Project 2025. Vought was referred to as a “key architect” in the plan.
Backlash to Extreme Elements
Over the course of the past month, there has been a growing backlash against some of the more extreme parts of the 922-page Project 2025 blueprint, such as making pornography illegal, rejecting any gender identity other than biological sex, and eliminating the United States Department of Education.
As a result, Trump has denounced the plan and referred to any attempt to link him to Project 2025 as “pure disinformation.”
“Plugged Right In”
Vought, on the other hand, described himself as someone who “has the president’s trust” and stated that although he anticipates that Trump will continue to distance himself from the plan, the former president has visited his organization, “blessed it” and been “very supportive of what we do.”
Vought said the plan is for Project 2025 to be given to whoever handles the transition of power in the event that Trump is chosen and is intended to be “plugged right in.”
Communications Director Speaks Out
When the Center for Renewing America’s communications director, Rachel Cauley, was contacted for comment on Thursday by Forbes, she stated, “It would have been easier to just do a google search to ‘uncover’ what is already on our website and said in countless interviews with national media.”
“But thank you for airing our perfect conversation emphasizing our policy work is totally separate from the Trump campaign, as we have been saying.”
Undercover Journalist and Paid Actor
Vought stated in the video, “There is no think tank, no policy organization, and no battle plan creator other than us for the world view that I think Donald Trump and JD (Vance) have.”
The Centre for Climate Reporting, which bills itself as a “not-for-profit investigative journalism organization,” claimed that it brought an undercover journalist and a paid actor into a meeting with Vought last month in Washington, D.C.
False Pretenses
The members of the Centre for Climate Reporting were pretending to be members of a wealthy family in New Mexico who might be interested in donating to Project 2025.
The meeting room at the hotel was surrounded by cameras, which recorded the nearly two-hour conversation.
Month-Long Investigation
“Powerful populist movements, in the US and Europe, that have set themselves against action to tackle climate change,” according to the organization, were the aim of the endeavor.
The organization’s 2,800-word article on the topic said it was part of a month-long investigation and the discussion was included in the publication.
Proposed Overhaul of the Executive Branch
The multi-pronged Project 2025 includes calls and proposals from hard-right groups to completely overhaul the executive branch of government.
The extensive plan addresses a wide range of issues, including student loans, taxes, international relations, climate change, abortion, and federal agencies.
Growing Opposition
Since July, there has been growing opposition to the policy proposals, and experts have stated that if implemented, such a plan could have a significant impact on the operation of the federal government.
That same month, Trump stated that he has “nothing to do with” the project’s creators, who include former White House staffers Stephen Miller, Troup Hemenway, Vought, and Spencer Chretien.
Paul Dans, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 program director, left the organization on July 30.
