Trump won the 2024 election. Will he implement Project 2025? 10 ...

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Americans react to Donald Trump's presidential election win

President-elect Donald Trump's supporters expressed relief after realizing he won. Meanwhile, Harris supporters were stunned.

Throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, you might have heard about "Project 2025," a conservative federal policy guide the Trump administration will likely try to implement.

The 920-page document titled "Mandate For Leadership” has several ideas for how it plans to shape major institutions in the country.

Throughout Trump's campaign, he has downplayed the significance of Project 2025. In the Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump said, “I have nothing to do with Project 2025.  I haven’t read it. I don’t want to read it purposely. I’m not going to read it.”

Here's what you need to know about the Project 2025:

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 is a "presidential transition project" released by the Heritage Foundation, a staunchly conservative think tank. 

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, the plan covers a range of policies and structural changes intended to implement a conservative agenda on issues such as immigration, health care, education, and federal regulations.

For example, in section one of the document under "Taking reins of the government," the document states a reconstruction of immigration laws for the country.

"International organizations and agreements that erode our Constitution, rule of law, or popular sovereignty should not be reformed: They should be abandoned. Illegal immigration should be ended, not mitigated; the border sealed, not reprioritized.” 

Who is the Heritage Foundation?

Founded in 1973, the Heritage Foundation is a non-profit public policy research institute based in Washington, D.C.

What are the proposals in the Project 2025 plan?

There is a lot to uncover in the Project 2025 proposal. Some legal experts would argue many of the policy recommendations are unconstitutional.

According to the ACLU, Civil Rights.org, and the BBC, here are 10 takeaways that the plan hopes to achieve if implemented:

• Banning critical race theory: Censoring discussions about race, gender and oppression in school and other academia.
• Mass deportations: Implementing policies that increase deportations and raids targeting immigrant communities, revoke birthright citizenship, separate families, and dismantle the nation's asylum system.
• Prohibiting abortion access: Restricting nationwide access to abortion by revoking the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a key medication for abortions, and reactivating the 19th-century Comstock Act to prohibit the shipment of abortion-related medications, equipment, or materials through the U.S. Postal Service.
• Centralization of executive authority: Project 2025 aims to consolidate executive power by restructuring federal agencies to report more directly to the president. 
• Climate policy: The document suggests a decrease in federal funding for renewable energy research and investment. It also advocates for a shift in policy under the next president to support the oil and natural gas industries.
• Technology: The proposed regulations aim to prohibit pornography and impose severe penalties on tech and telecommunications companies that facilitate access to such content. These companies could face shutdown if found in violation.
• Homeland Security: Project 2025 proposes dissolving the Department of Homeland Security and integrating its functions with immigration enforcement units from other agencies to establish a border policing entity.
• Public funded journalism: Plans to cut taxpayer funding to Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps grant funds to NPR and PBS.
•  LGBTQ+ protections: It proposes removing protections for LGBTQ+ individuals, such as eliminating the Gender Policy Council, a Biden administration creation that promotes equity.
• Economic and Trade Policy with China: Project 2025 advocates cutting ties with China by blocking partnerships and restricting access to Chinese-owned apps like TikTok.

What has Trump said about Project 2025?

The vast majority of authors and editors that worked on Project 2025 – 31 out of 38 – have connections to Trump or his previous administration. They include Chris Miller, Trump's former acting defense secretary, Ken Cuccinelli, his acting deputy homeland security secretary, and Peter Navarro, his former White House aide who served prison time for defying subpoenas from the committee investigating Trump's efforts to steal the election.

Paul Dans, Trump's former chief of staff of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, was Project 2025's director. Trump advisor Stephen Miller and his spokesperson Karoline Leavitt appeared in a video for the project's "Presidential Administration Academy."

Trump has distanced himself from the project, claiming in a July Truth Social post to "know nothing about Project 2025." He also said he disagreed with some of the things said about the plan, calling them "absolutely ridiculous and abysmal."

Representatives for the Trump campaign did not respond to a request from USA TODAY for comment. The Heritage Foundation also did not return a request for comment.

— USA TODAY reporter Cybele Mayes-Osterman contributed to this report.