(CNN) Russell Vought, one of the key authors of Project 2025 and a former Trump cabinet member, was recorded on a hidden camera talking to what he believed to be relatives of a wealthy conservative donor about a right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term.
From MSNBC, this footage “confirms that Donald Trump has personally had talks with Vought about his work behind Project 2025 and that Trump gave him his blessing” despite Trump’s contradictory public claims.
Key Facts: (from Forbes breaking news)
• Russell Vought served as the Office of Management and Budget’s director under the Trump administration.
• Two activists with the nonprofit Centre for Climate Reporting secretly recorded a meeting with Vought, then published a video including clips from the meeting.
• Vought, whose name has been mentioned as a possible White House chief of staff under a second Trump presidency, said in the video that his group has been working tirelessly to draft a number of plans that would block funding for Planned Parenthood, cut down on government agencies’ autonomy and work to “rehabilitate Christian nationalism.”
• Backlash against some of the more extreme pieces in the 922-page Project 2025 blueprint—including illegalizing pornography, rejecting any gender identity beyond biological sex and eliminating the U.S. Department of Education—has grown over the last month, leading Trump to denounce the plan and call any attempt to link him to Project 2025 “pure disinformation.”
• Vought, however, called himself someone who “has the president’s trust” and said while he expects Trump to continue to distance himself from the plan, the former president has visited and raised money for his organization, “blessed it” and been “very supportive of what we do.”
