Project 2025 Co-Author Caught On Undercover Video Saying Trump ‘Supportive’ of Plan Trump Now Disavows

While former President Donald Trump has repeatedly , publicly distanced himself from Project 2025 — a 900-page guidebook for Trump’s second term as President — one of the document’s co-authors was caught on a hidden camera stating that the ex-president “blessed” everything in it.

Russell Vought was the director of the Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s administration, and he later ran the Center for Renewing America after Trump lost reelection. The organization played a large role in crafting Project 2025, along with several other right-wing groups. As the policy director for the Republican National Convention last month, Vought also helped to write the new GOP platform. In short, Vought is deeply involved in developing policy for the Republican party as well as Project 2025.

The UK-based Centre for Climate Reporting constructed a ruse to catch Vought spilling insider information on Project 2025, requesting a meeting between him and two journalists who misrepresented themselves as relatives of “a reclusive New Mexico investor,” according to CNN : “The nonexistent patriarch had watched Vought’s appearances on Steve Bannon’s ‘War Room’ show while recuperating from an illness – and wanted to make a seven-figure contribution to CRA after previously focusing his philanthropy on classical music, they claimed.”

During the July 24 meeting, Vought spoke candidly about the goals of Project 2025 and how much Trump had a hand in it . CNN reported:

Vought said he had personally talked to Trump in recent months and received at least one personal “assignment” from him after he left office. He noted that the former president has “been at our organization, he’s raised money for our organization, he’s blessed it … he’s very supportive of what we do.”

That wasn’t just bluster to try to land a big check, according to others in the MAGA movement. Trump and Vought have spoken at various times since leaving office, and the former president has adopted some of Vought’s ideas, two sources familiar with their relationship told CNN.

Vought also told the reporters that Project 2025 was seemingly inspired by Trump:

The work of drafting policies is happening months ahead of the election in part because “President Trump will want to spend literally zero amount of time thinking or contemplating what a transition will look like,” Vought said. “It’s not how he thinks.”

Vought’s guiding principle, he said, was simple: What would Donald do?

“We were always going off of, if Donald Trump was head of this agency, what would he do with it?” Vought said.

In response to the leaked video, the Center for Renewing America released a statement through spokesperson Rachel Cauley : “It would have been easier to just do a google search to ‘uncover’ what is already on our website and said in countless national media interviews. But thank you for airing our perfect conversation emphasizing our policy work is totally separate from the Trump campaign, as we have been saying.”

Danielle Alvarez , a senior advisor on the Trump campaign, also responded: “President Trump’s campaign made it clear that only President Trump and the campaign, and NOT any other organization or former staff, represent policies for the second term. President Trump personally led the effort to establish 20 promises made to the forgotten men and women across our nation, as well as RNC Platform – these are the only policies endorsed by President Trump for a second term.”

Watch the video above via CNN.