What would a second Trump presidency look like? We dive deep into the detailed plans that have emerged on the Right for what they want to do immediately upon getting back to power. Almost two years ago, “Project 2025” was launched under the leadership of the Heritage Foundation. Different factions on the Right are preparing separate plans, but “Project 2025” stands out because it unites much of the conservative machine behind the goal of installing a much more effective, more ruthless rightwing regime. We look at the people behind these plans and what animates them – specifically Kevin Roberts, the president of Heritage, who embodies the siege mentality, self-victimization, and grievance-driven lust for revenge that is fueling the Right. And we dissect the plans and proposals “Project 2025” has to offer, department by department: The goal is to vastly expand presidential power and transform American government into a revenge machine, purge tens of thousands of federal employees and replace them all with loyalists. Already, “Project 2025” is engaged in an unprecedented headhunting operation to ensure ideological conformity. We discuss the tension between the goals of weaponizing the government while dismantling the “deep state” at the same time, and how it is indicative of a larger conflict on the Right between a “traditionalist” and a more rightwing-libertarian wing. Finally, we reflect on why a second Trump term would be much more dangerous, as it could rely on a fully Trumpified GOP in Congress, on a supermajority on the Supreme Court, and on the prospect of escalating violence as the ubiquitous threat against anyone daring to defy Trumpism.
Show notes:
Project 25 https://www.project2025.org/
Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative promise https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf
Inside the Heritage Foundation’s Plans for ‘Institutionalizing Trumpism, NYT, January 21, 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/21/magazine/heritage-foundation-kevin-roberts.html
Don Moynihan, Trump Has a Master Plan for Destroying the ‘Deep State’, NYT, November 27, 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/27/opinion/trump-deep-state-schedule-f.html
Don Moynihan, The risks of Schedule F for administrative capacity and government accountability, December 12, 2024 https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-risks-of-schedule-f-for-administrative-capacity-and-government-accountability/
Sam Adler-Bell, The Shadow War to Determine the Next Trump Administration, January 10, 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/10/opinion/shadow-war-trump-transition.html
Chris Geidner, On Trump's "deep state" attack plans and where they would lead in a second term, November 27, 2024 https://www.lawdork.com/p/trump-deep-state-attack-v-admin-state-attacks
36. From Reagan to Trump: A Conversation about “Landslide” and the Transformation of American Politics since the 1970s – with Ben Bradford and Seth Cotlar (Part II)
35. “Landslide”: How the Radical Right Took Over the Republican Party and Transformed American Politics in the 1970s – with Ben Bradford and Seth Cotlar (Part I)
34. What Today’s Republican Party Is Made Of – A GOP Primary Post-Mortem
33. The Many Blind Spots and Pitfalls of the “Biden Too Old” Discourse
31. Why the Reactionary Campaign Against Claudine Gay Is a Matter of Great Concern
30. Mad Poll Disease and the Folly of “Popularism” – with Michael Podhorzer
29. What Do Americans Value in 2023?
28. The New Speaker vs. Democracy, Threats of MAGA Violence as the New Normal, and the State of the 2024 Presidential Race
27. Reflections on the Israel-Hamas war – and what the latest Speaker drama can tell us about the dangerous state of Republican politics
26. Taking Stock: The State of American Democracy Heading into Summer
25. The Ideology of Silicon Valley vs the Idea of Democracy – with Adrian Daub
24. “Cancel Culture”: How a Moral Panic Is Capturing America and the World – with Adrian Daub
23. “Polarization” Is Not the Problem. It Obscures the Problem – with Shannon McGregor
22. Land of Unlimited Gun Violence
21. Trump Arraignment in Manhattan, Wisconsin Supreme Court, Tennessee Assembly: Many Different Battles – One Conflict
20. Walter Huss and the History of Republican Radicalization, From the 1950s to Today – with Seth Cotlar
19. The Legal Fate of Donald Trump – and What Republicans Really Mean When They Say “Law and Order”
18. The War on Public Education Is Escalating – with Jennifer Berkshire
17. There Is No “Free Speech Crisis” On Campus – and the Latest in Fox News vs Democracy
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