Restructuring power and subordinating it to the president, isolationism in foreign policy and a return to "traditional values": these are the three pillars of "Project 2025" - Trump's plan for total control.
For a long time, "Project 2025" was considered only a theoretical experiment in conservative circles in the US. This radical plan for Donald Trump's second term was prepared by the controversial "Heritage" Foundation as a counterpoint to Joe Biden's administration.
In "Project 2025" The plan calls for less separation of powers, more power for the president, a return to conservative and Christian-influenced values, and a clear distinction from the previous US foreign and domestic policies. "Project 2025" describes in detail how governance should be concentrated in the president - the state administration restructured, to some extent even closed, and institutions placed under political control. One of the architects of the project - Russell Vote, currently director of the US Office of Management and Budget, has a direct connection with the president, ARD recalls. Trump has long denied that he even knew what "Project 2025" was. The American president even claimed that he had not read it. Recently, however, Trump and Vote have demonstrated closeness, and the president praises Vote for "Project 2025". Vote, for his part, does not hide his enthusiasm for the president's assessments.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that he has the right to make any decisions alone. "I can do whatever I want, I'm the president", he said recently in connection with the deployment of the National Guard to American cities.
The plan basically envisages actions in three directions:
Restructuring of power
Trump governs almost entirely by presidential decree, writes ARD. He disbanded organizations such as USAID, transferred their activities to the private sector or networks loyal to the party and to him, and seriously curtailed the Department of Education. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers were dismissed from the "efficiency agency" DOGE, which was headed by billionaire Elon Musk. New people are hired only on the basis of loyalty, not necessarily competence, comments Gudrun Engel of the ARD.
The Ministry of Justice has also been restructured, and the independence of the courts has been repeatedly questioned. White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt regularly calls judges who oppose Trump "party activists". At first glance, all this looks like ordinary administrative reforms, but in fact this interference in the balance of democratic institutions in the United States will have serious consequences.
"America first" is not just a slogan
In terms of foreign policy, the Trump administration is firmly behind isolationism, and not only in terms of migration. International agreements and cooperation are of no interest and have largely been terminated or the US has withdrawn from certain agreements and organizations - for example, the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization, ARD recalls.
Climate protection, human rights and responsibility to the world no longer play a role in US policy. Instead, the motto is the famous "America First". This is not just a slogan, but a political direction. Trump does not hide his opinion at all about US partners such as the European Union, which the US president accused of "being created just to screw us". Instead of deepening cooperation, the White House has chosen to impose tariffs, punitive measures and abandon dialogue if the US cannot unilaterally set the rules.
Back to "traditional values"
"Project 2025" is not limited to power structures - it aims to fundamentally change society, writes ARD. The USA must return to traditional Christian values. Diversity, equality and inclusion - all of this Donald Trump puts under the common denominator of "tyranny", whose time is over.
Educational policies are oriented towards the party line, books on the history of slavery, for example, are banned. Social programs are suspended, and sex education is limited. Protection of the LGBTI community is on the back burner, and abortion is extremely regulated after the Supreme Court's decision that it is no longer a constitutional right. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sums it all up like this: "There will be no more diversity policies, there will be no more men in women's clothing. We are ending this nonsense."
More than a third of "Project 2025" is already in effect
Critics see all this as the beginning of the end of liberal democracy. Professor of political science at "George Washington" University; Stephen Livingston tells ARD that the work towards "Project 2025" worries him. "This is part of a larger plan. We are also observing interventions in the media, universities, museums. They represent potential opposition and must be brought under control, neutralized, pacified".
So far, the executive branch has encountered serious resistance only on issues that it cannot decide independently by law, but require approval from Congress and possibly the courts - for example, cutting funding for the "Medicare" and "Medicaid" health programs.
About a year after the presidential election, however, "Project 2025" is no longer just a future or possible plan - it is a political reality, writes ARD. For Trump supporters, this is a long-awaited systemic change. Of the 318 steps described in the project, 118 have already been put into effect, and another 67 are in the process of being developed. The speed with which all this is being passed is remarkable - in the nine months since Trump took office, the political face of the United States has changed fundamentally. For the president's team and supporters, the implementation of their vision for the "real America" is just beginning. And the division in the country is only deepening.