Key Point: “Many of Trump’s early actions appear closely aligned with Project 2025’s plans. A CNN analysis of the 53 executive orders and actions from Trump’s first week in office found that more than two-thirds – 36 – evoke proposals outlined in ‘Mandate for Leadership,’ Project 2025’s 922-page blueprint for the next Republican president.”

CNN: Trump said he hadn’t read Project 2025 – but most of his early executive actions overlap with its proposals

By Steve Contorno and Casey Tolan

• President Donald Trump caught his own administration off guard last week by suggesting that the nation’s primary disaster response agency might simply “go away.”

• The idea, however, wasn’t new. The contours of it circulated nearly two years ago through Project 2025, a sweeping plan to overhaul the government that Trump as a candidate forcefully disavowed.

• Many of Trump’s early actions appear closely aligned with Project 2025’s plans.

• A CNN analysis of the 53 executive orders and actions from Trump’s first week in office found that more than two-thirds – 36 – evoke proposals outlined in “Mandate for Leadership,” Project 2025’s 922-page blueprint for the next Republican president. 

• “This is exactly the work we set out to do,” Paul Dans, who oversaw Project 2025 at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told CNN in an interview Wednesday. 

• At least 140 former Trump administration officials and dozens of ardent allies ultimately wrote and contributed to “Mandate for Leadership.” More than 100 friendly organizations endorsed it.

• Since his November victory, though, Trump has filled key government posts with people who helped put Project 2025 together. Both Tom Homan, who is serving as White House border czar, and Trump’s new CIA Director John Ratcliffe contributed to “Mandate for Leadership.” Brendan Carr, named chairman of the Federal Communications Commission by Trump, wrote an entire chapter for Project 2025 on the agency he now leads.

• Russ Vought, chosen as director of the Office of Management and Budget, authored a section on presidential power that appeared to preview the freeze on federal spending put in place this week by Trump’s young government.