Paul Dans, the director of The Heritage Foundation and architect of the infamous domestic terrorist manifesto Project 2025 ― you know, the treatise that would gut and overhaul the federal government ― stepped down from his position Tuesday as Donald Trump’s campaign sought to distance itself from the document of doom.
Trump can no more distance himself from Project 2025 than a bumper can distance itself from a car. But you can’t blame the former president for taking advantage of Dans’ decision to step down even if the gesture doesn’t ring true. In fact, it sounds as if the plan was always for Dans to move on once his work was done.
“Under Paul Dans’ leadership, Project 2025 has completed exactly what it set out to do: bringing together over 110 leading conservative organizations to create a unified conservative vision, motivated to devolve power from the unelected administrative state, and returning it to the people,” Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation, told CNN. “This tool was built for any future administration to use.”
The whole public-facing play on Project 2025 would have been disastrously humorous if it weren’t for the whole “restructuring of the free world as we know it” part. For those who haven’t bothered to familiarize themselves with the doctrine of destruction, let me give you the CliffNotes version of the 920-page “Pinky and the Brain” power move to destroy America as we know it.
One of the first missions was to get rid of civil servants who didn’t pledge their allegiance to Trump. There would be a national ban on abortion, an increase in the retirement age for Social Security and changes in overtime pay protections. When they weren’t ruining the finances of the backbone of America, they would be busy “restricting access to contraception” and “slashing funding for early childhood and K-12 education,” the Center for American Progress reported. The plan would also “end civil rights protections,” “stop safeguards that protect clean drinking water” and end efforts to “combat the climate crisis,” according to the policy institute.
It’s all very “under his eye.”
From the onset, Trump has claimed he had no knowledge of Project 2025, but let’s be clear, Trump and Project 2025 go together, real bad. Trump and Project 2025 are the Jay Z and Beyoncé of the Republican Party. They are the Botox and Matt Gaetz of the GOP. They are the WNBA media and Caitlin Clark of conservatives.
And Dans stepping down after aiding in the creation of this bastion of Babylon is the equivalent of throwing out the matchbook after starting a forest fire. It’s all for show, just like most things involving Trump. It will have absolutely no effect on the damage that will be done should Trump enter office, and that’s not me being hyperbolic: About 140 people involved in Project 2025 have worked for Trump.
A CNN review found that “at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration had a hand in the project… including more than half of the people listed as authors, editors and contributors to ‘Mandate for Leadership.’”
“Mandate for Leadership” is the official name for the tomb of terrorism, which calls for a ban on the abortion pill mifepristone and would stop the Affordable Care Act from covering the morning-after pill and contraceptives for men. The weighty missive of masochism notes that the government should promote heterosexuality in both marriage and familiesand would ban transgender people from joining the armed services.
An aside: There was one part in this section that had me thinking, “You know, maybe Trump didn’t know about Project 2025,” and it was the part that noted there would be a ban on pornography. I mean, given his proclivity for… anyway, I digress.
CNN noted that Dans wasn’t just a random who crafted this manifesto of mayhem. He “served as chief of staff at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management during the Trump administration where he served as a liaison between the agency and the White House.”
The fire under Project 2025 had gotten so hot from Democratic leadership that Trump took to his Truth Social platform to disassociate himself from it.
“I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. 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.”
Which is bizarre when you consider that both Trump’s former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former political adviser Stephen Miller had some involvement in the project and now, like Trump, have distanced themselves from it.
But there is a good side to the news of Dans’ departure. The move, albeit a hollow gesture, is a nod to the dynamism that is the Kamala Harris campaign. Trump is scared out of his orange wits. This is the first time in a long time that he’s had to play defense. Vice President Harris didn’t just come in and take all of Trump’s momentum after the assassination attempt; she’s been breaking fundraising records for her presidential campaign with massive groups of people joining Zoom calls to ensure that the only time Trump sees the White House again is as a visitor.
After Biden stepped down and endorsed Harris, Trump’s campaign announced that they wouldn’t be debating her, a smart move considering she’s a former prosecutor and he’s used to being prosecuted. And now the creator of the notebook of nihilism has stepped down from his position and, well, you love to see it.
Unless every person associated with Project 2025 who has connections to the Trump administration leaves The Heritage Foundation or is no longer affiliated with Trump, then you can assume should Trump win office, Project 2025 would be in full effect. We must remember that whenever Trump starts claiming that he doesn’t know someone or something, he’s usually plotting or lying or both. In fact, Business Insider wrote a whole piece on it, headlined “20 People Who Trump Has Personally Known and Then Claimed He Didn’t.” It’s part of his brand, the Trump brand, which was always built on a legacy of lies.
