Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought claims Donald Trump is ‘very supportive' of what he does

WASHINGTON, DC: Russell Vought, one of the main writers of a contentious blueprint for a potential second term of Donald Trump, claimed that maintains close communication with Donald Trump despite the former president disapproving of his work publicly. 

Vought, who assisted in authoring the Project 2025 policy agenda that involves the large-scale termination of federal employees, stated that he has maintained strong ties with the 78-year-old MAGA strongman since his time as the director of the Office of Management and Budget under the former POTUS. 

“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,” Vought claimed to an undercover reporter and an actor from the Centre for Climate Reporting, a British investigative organization.

Vought revealed that his conservative think tank, the Center for Renewing America, has been formulating numerous executive orders aimed at implementing mass firings and deportation of undocumented immigrants. He indicated that he would not have any issues in delivering this material to former president Trump, according to HuffPost.

“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 added. “The relationships will be there. The trust level will be there.”

Russell Vought on drafting executive orders for Donald Trump when he returns to White House

Project 2025 is a comprehensive policy roadmap for a potential second Donald Trump term put forth by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, with different contributors writing individual chapters.

Russell Vought authored a chapter focusing on reforms for the executive office of the president.

Democrats have drawn attention to Project 2025's proposals for limiting access to abortion, including medication abortion, and for replacing federal employees with pro-Trump loyalists.

The 2024 Republican presidential candidate has maintained that the authors of Project 2025 do not influence him, despite many of them, like Vought, being former members of his administration.

"I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it," Trump wrote on Truth Social last month. "I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."

On Thursday, August 15, a Trump campaign spokesperson said in an email that “only President Trump and the campaign, and NOT any other organization or former staff, represent policies for the second term.”

“President Trump personally led the effort to establish 20 promises made to the forgotten men and women across our nation, as well as RNC Platform ― these are the only policies endorsed by President Trump for a second term,” the Trump campaign spokesperson stated.

The Center for Climate Reporting employed a paid actor to pretend to be a possible donor to Vought's organization in order to fool him into agreeing to an interview. (Gaining information through deception is typically considered unethical among American journalists.)

It is unclear if Vought previously mentioned that he was preparing hundreds of executive orders, regulations, and secretarial memos to be provided to a potential Trump transition team in a way that would make them immune to a Freedom of Information Act request.

However, the former president's connections to the authors of Project 2025 have been evident all along.

The Associated Press previously reported that Vought drafted a "180-day playbook" for the early stages of a second Trump administration and that he would likely be appointed to a high-ranking position if the ex-commander-in-chief were to win the presidential election in November.

Outrage as Russell Vought says Donald Trump is ‘very supportive' of Project 2025

Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought's remarks about Donald Trump supporting his work caused outrage online.

One X user remarked, "Wow. These Project 2025 guys are so arrogant about their plans and yet, so incredibly naive about who they share them with. Incredible reporting."

Another asserted, "It’s always been obvious that trump is behind project 2025. The fact that he wants to dismantle the dept of education."

One person remarked, "The MAGA Christofascists, full mask off."

Another claimed, "He wants to be the person that crushes the people, NOT the "deep state.""

One individual wrote, "Wow! Absolutely sickening what these people are planning. Thank you for showing and exposing them."

Another commented, "Y’all this is scary s**t! GOP put their Authoritarian playbook in writing, they got a little push back, so Trump does a little gaslighting about his involvement. But his group keeps telling us, it’s real and it’s what they’re going to do! #Project2025 , 900+ pages and a 2nd phase."

One X user tweeted, "This is going to cook trump at the debates."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.