PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) In its most recent attempt to gain sway over the new Republican administration, the think tank that created Project 2025, the conservative blueprint associated with President-elect Donald Trump, is making an attempt to support Trump’s endangered choice for secretary of defense.
Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, announced Thursday that his organization will spend $1 million to exert pressure on senators who are hesitant to support Pete Hegseth, whose nomination to head the Pentagon has come under scrutiny because of his personal behavior and views on women fighting in combat. Several Republican senators have either sought for further details regarding Hegseth’s drinking and treatment of women or have refused to commit to supporting him.
In an interview, Roberts claimed that the establishment was behind the criticism of Hegseth and that they would be communicating with their supporters about how out of step they are with the Trump agenda.
The latest indication that Project 2025, which Trump rejected during his campaign due to Democratic opposition, is gaining momentum as he returns to the White House is Roberts’ declaration that he will back Hegseth. Several of its authors and contributors have been appointed to important posts by the president-elect.
During an event at Trump’s Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, Roberts talked to The Associated Press after claiming to have seen Trump at another gathering on Wednesday that was also attended by other incoming members of the president-elect’s cabinet. Roberts did not specify if he had or would have a private meeting with Trump.
Project 2025 contains plans to abolish or reduce a number of government departments and reclassify thousands of federal employees for termination. Even though the blueprint was created by former government officials and close loyalists, Trump attempted to disassociate himself from it and denied understanding its origins in response to Democratic criticism of it.
The purpose of the Mar-a-Lago event was to introduce Azoria U.S. Meritocracy, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that aims to identify and exclude companies that practice diversity, equity, and inclusion. James Fishback, its CEO, is linked to Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur who is leading the new Department of Government Efficiency alongside Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla.
The tiny group laughed when Roberts identified himself on Thursday as a member of Project 2025.
He mentioned that Brooke Rollins, the president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, which also prepared the way for a second Trump administration, is a close friend of his. Trump has selected Rollins to be his secretary of agriculture.
Roberts claimed that organizations connected to the Trump agenda included the America First Policy Institute and the Heritage Foundation. He referred to the second Trump administration as the start of America’s next chapter’s golden age.
He stated, “I believe we are in the midst of a re-founding of this country.”
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