Republicans admit they plan to implement the project in 2025

Donald Trump won the election, and Republicans now openly admit that Project 2025 was the plan from the start.

The Heritage Foundation's draconian package of measures to prepare for a second Trump administration was so extremist that the former president went to great lengths to publicly distance himself from the project in the final months of the campaign. Its contents include a far-reaching expansion of executive powers; a de facto national ban on abortion, tightened restrictions on contraception; brutal policies against illegal migrants; and the abolition of several federal agencies (including the Department of Education) did not sit well with potential voters.

Trump acted as if he knew nothing about the plan, despite having close ties to those who devised it, while Democrats did their best to warn against the conservative plan for a second Trump term.

In fact, less than 24 hours after Trump's election was called, his allies, advisers and prominent supporters celebrated the now open path to implementing Project 2025.

On Wednesday, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon – who just weeks ago served a four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress – praised Christian nationalist Matt Walsh, a commentator at The Daily Wire, in his post War room transmitted.

Walsh wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Now that the election is over, I think we can finally say that Project 2025 is actually on the agenda.” Lol”

“I think Matt Walsh is a very smart and funny guy,” Bannon said. “Put this everywhere,” he added, instructing his staff to promote the post on his social media.

In a separate post, Tarrant County GOP Chairman Bo French wrote: “So can we now admit that we will implement the project in 2025?”

Regardless of whether Trump explicitly endorses Project 2025 as a guide for his second administration, the overlap in his proposals, personnel and goals means that the two are inextricably linked. Republicans just don't have to pretend anymore.