What will Donald Trump’s policies look like once he is inaugurated in January 2025 ? Project 2025, which counts 140 former Trump officials among its advisors and authors, spends almost 1,000 pages outlining policies that a Trump Administration could undertake during his second term.
While the project covers almost every aspect of government, its national security implications are especially unnerving. The top 6 reasons for alarm are below:
Undermining NATO: Project 2025 echoes Trump’s criticism of NATO and mimics his fondness for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The proposal calls for the U.S. to "transform NATO" by narrowing the United States' support for the critical alliance, thereby weakening it. The mandate emphasizes that Trump should prioritize quickly resolving the Ukraine-Russia war, which is code for forcing Ukraine to cede its territory to Putin. Following these policy proposals, Trump’s team has reportedly discussed plans to reduce U.S. intelligence sharing with our European allies, further undercutting their work to contain Putin.
Destroying Election Security: The plan proposes ending USCYBERCOM and CISA’s (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) efforts to fortify U.S. elections and protect them from foreign influence by countries like China and Russia, leaving the U.S. even more vulnerable to attacks by our adversaries. This proposal ignores the U.S. Senate’s, FBI's, and U.S. Intelligence community’s findings that foreign governments continue to conduct influence operations to affect the outcome of U.S. elections.
Abandoning Climate Progress: Project 2025 calls for gutting the United States’ efforts to combat climate change – which the Department of Defense has long identified as a major national security threat. The project calls for eliminating the federal government’s focus on the climate crisis, preventing the expansion of the electrical grid to include wind and solar energy, giving billions to oil and gas companies, withdrawing the United States from The Paris Climate Agreement, and rolling back any progress for investments in green energy – which are already creating tens of thousands of jobs nationwide.
Weaponizing Personnel: Plans to install MAGA loyalists throughout the government, especially in national security and military positions, undermine the checks and balances that are central to our democracy. Non-partisan professionals working in organizations such as the CIA, Department of Defense, and State Department, who have dedicated their lives to protecting Americans, will be replaced at all levels by individuals whose only qualification is loyalty to Donald Trump. Project 2025 also recommends circumventing the Constitutionally-mandated Senate confirmation process by relying solely on “acting" directors to fill some national security roles – allowing Trump to appoint yes-men throughout government without any oversight from Congress.
Intensifying the Trade War with China: The proposal argues that the “economic relationship with China should be ended” – which is code for a disruptive and costly trade war that would jeopardize an estimated 1 million U.S. jobs supported by U.S. exports to China. Cutting off trade would also raise tensions with China, increasing the likelihood of a catastrophic military confrontation while closing off our ability to cooperate in areas like fentanyl production and artificial intelligence.
Attacking Veterans: Project 2025 fails America's veterans who kept our country safe by recommending reducing their disability benefits, privatizing health care while cutting its quality and comprehensiveness, and stripping away women veterans' rights to reproductive health care. Additionally, it would gut the Veterans Administration's career civil servant leadership and replace them with partisan political appointees, weakening the experienced workforce that provides top-quality care for our veterans. The project's proposals would negatively impact up to 5 million veterans' health care and the benefits they so clearly earned.
Published: July 2024
Updated: November 2024