Which Trump allies or advisers helped draft Project 2025 plans?
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Executive summary
Multiple reporting and organizational summaries show Project 2025 was produced by the Heritage Foundation with heavy involvement from former Trump aides and allied conservative groups; at least dozens of its authors worked in Trump’s administration or campaign, and specific named Trump allies tied to drafting or promoting the plan include Russell Vought and Paul Dans (project director), among others cited in contemporaneous coverage [1] [2] [3]. Critics and advocacy groups say as many as 140–144 former Trump staffers or close allies helped write or author components of the blueprint; Heritage describes it as its policy agenda for future Republican governance [3] [1] [4].
1. Who authored Project 2025 — a Heritage Foundation blueprint with many Trump veterans
Project 2025 is a Heritage Foundation project that assembled policy blueprints written by numerous conservative organizations and many former Trump administration staffers; reporting notes that most contributors had served in Trump’s administration or campaign, and the project was presented publicly as a detailed roadmap for a future Republican executive [1] [5] [3].
2. Named Trump allies tied to drafting or promoting the plan
News outlets and advocacy groups specifically point to Russell Vought — former OMB director under Trump — as a prominent ally who helped draft or was “deeply involved” in Project 2025 and who figured in media accounts as an architect of early implementation plans such as Schedule F [2] [3]. Paul Dans is identified as the project director and a former OPM chief of staff who participated in producing the plan [1].
3. Scale: dozens to more than a hundred former Trump officials and allied groups
Different sources report slightly different tallies but converge on a large number: Heritage assembled many contributors and conservative partner groups; some reporting and watchdog summaries say roughly 140–144 people who had worked in the Trump administration or campaign were authors or co‑authors, and that multiple conservative organizations (Turning Point USA, the Center for Renewing America, Family Policy Alliance, Family Research Council, Moms for Liberty, America First Legal among others) were involved [3] [6] [1].
4. What roles these allies played — drafting, promoting and moving ideas into government
Sources show contributors both wrote policy modules and publicly promoted them; Vought and others reportedly helped draft implementation playbooks for the first 180 days and advocated structural changes to the federal workforce and agencies — proposals that critics say mirror actions the administration later pursued [3] [7] [5].
5. Disavowals, denials and the political context
Donald Trump publicly distanced himself from Project 2025 during the 2024 campaign, saying he “knew nothing” about it; contemporaneous reporting and later tracking contend that many of the document’s proposals resemble policies the administration later advanced and that several Project 2025 architects were later nominated to government roles, fueling questions about the practical link between the blueprint and administration actions [1] [7] [3].
6. Critics’ framing: project as an inside blueprint for sweeping changes
Advocacy groups and progressive outlets characterize Project 2025 as a concerted plan by former administration officials and conservative groups to reshape the executive branch — asserting the authorship by many ex‑Trump officials shows it was written by people with direct operational knowledge and access [4] [8] [9].
7. Alternative perspectives and Heritage’s posture
Heritage frames Project 2025 as a policy playbook intended to guide conservative governance and restore what it calls “efficient operations” and constitutional principles; coverage from conservative and mainstream outlets notes Heritage’s role as designer and promoter, and also records that some Trump aides and campaign figures publicly objected to the project’s political fallout during the campaign [5] [1].
8. What reporting does not say (limits of available sources)
Available sources do not list a comprehensive, single roster of every named Trump ally who helped draft Project 2025 in one place; some outlets give totals (140–144) while naming a subset of individuals and organizations, and other reporting flags that many contributors later took government jobs or advisory roles [3] [1]. Available sources do not mention an exhaustive, independently verified roll call of all authors beyond the partial lists cited in media and advocacy materials [3] [6].
9. Bottom line — influence, personnel, and politics
Reporting establishes that Project 2025 was a Heritage Foundation‑led policy blueprint substantially authored and promoted by former Trump administration officials and allied conservative groups, with named figures such as Russell Vought and Paul Dans singled out by multiple outlets; the combination of authorship by ex‑Trump aides and later appointments of some architects into government shaped debate about how closely the administration’s agenda tracked Project 2025 [2] [1] [3].