It Took a Government Shutdown for Donald Trump to Come Clean About Project 2025
By Abi John Balogun — October 7, 2025
“Watch what I do, not what I say” has long been a warning to anyone trying to make sense of political life — a recognition that deception and double-speak are baked into the trade. In an era where political lies barely raise eyebrows, calling out dishonesty often feels futile. But sometimes, a lie is so monumental and consequential that ignoring it becomes impossible.
Think of Ronald Reagan’s denial of the Iran-Contra affair or George W. Bush’s falsehoods about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Those were not just political fibs — they were world-shaping deceptions. And now, Donald Trump’s repeated denials of any connection to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 join that infamous list.
As The Boston Globe observed, “Trump repeatedly insisted he knew nothing about the group or who was behind it, despite his close ties with many of its authors.”
In the summer of 2024, Trump declared:
“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.”
Meanwhile, Trump campaign insiders were fuming at the Heritage Foundation for publishing a politically toxic document. As one insider told reporters, “Project 2025 was an election albatross.” According to NBC News in September 2024, “Project 2025 is broadly known and severely unpopular with voters.”
The data spoke for itself: 85% of Democrats and 52% of independents disliked it. Even one-third of Republicans wanted nothing to do with it.
No wonder campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita released a statement insisting that “President Trump’s campaign has been very clear for over a year that Project 2025 had nothing to do with the campaign, did not speak for the campaign, and should not be associated with the campaign or the President in any way…. Reports of Project 2025’s demise would be greatly welcomed.”
Demise? Hardly.
From day one of his second term, Trump has drawn heavily from the Project 2025 playbook. The Washington Post reported on January 25 that, “Since his inauguration Monday, President Donald Trump has signed more than 50 presidential directives, from scrubbing references to diversity, equity, and inclusion out of federal policy to pardoning those convicted of crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
The Post continued:
“Many of the directives mirrored the priorities of Project 2025, the plan for a second Trump term that was spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation and written largely by alumni of the first Trump administration. A Washington Post analysis identified more than two dozen presidential directives containing language that resembled text published in Project 2025 — more than half of his directives since taking office, excluding pardons and appointments.”
Soon after Trump’s return to the White House, the BBC called Project 2025 a “right-wing wish list for Trump’s second term,” noting its goal of expanding presidential power and slashing the federal workforce. Initiatives like the Department of Government Efficiency and massive budget rescission packages have already led to billions being frozen or redirected.
Vice President Kamala Harris summed it up bluntly last week:
“This was always the plan. Project 2025 was Donald Trump’s blueprint to seize unchecked power within the federal government and restrict Americans’ freedoms. And he is implementing it right in front of our eyes.”
On Thursday, Trump stopped pretending. Posting to Truth Social, he proudly acknowledged his alignment with Project 2025:
“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”
While discussing the ongoing government shutdown, Trump added:
“The Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
In true Project 2025 style, Trump is using the shutdown as a weapon — freezing or cutting funds tied to Democratic-leaning states. The New York Times reported that budget director Russell T. Vought announced the administration had halted or canceled roughly $26 billion in previously approved funds, calling them “wasteful” or “in need of further review.”
One of those cuts — totaling about $8 billion — targeted what Vought derided as “Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda.” The affected projects span 16 states, mostly led by Democratic governors.
This is not governance — it’s ideological warfare. Trump is behaving like the president of the Red States of America, deepening the country’s divides while pretending to unite it.
It’s clear now: had Trump admitted before the election how deeply Project 2025 would shape his administration, he might never have returned to the White House.
Today, with the 2028 race already on the horizon, he continues to wield Project 2025 like a sacred text — a manifesto of executive dominance written “years in the making.”
Political philosopher Michael Walzer once asked whether leaders could ever “govern innocently.” His answer: no. Deception, he argued, is an unavoidable part of leadership. We tolerate it — sometimes even justify it — when we believe those leaders deceive for the greater good.
But Trump’s relationship with the truth has never been about serving others. His embrace — and earlier denial — of Project 2025 exposes a man driven not by public service but by power itself.
His lies about Project 2025 are not merely political maneuvers; they are historic acts of deceit that will shape America’s future for years to come.
© 2025 Abi John Balogun