Internal emails obtained by The Daily Beast reveal that Project 2025 director Paul Dans has stepped down from the position at the Heritage Foundation after former President Donald Trump's campaign leadership grew increasingly frustrated.
As Daily Beast reporter Roger Sollenberger wrote on X, "Trump campaign leadership, ongoing power rift over staffing control for potential second Trump admin, per internal email. This suggests Project 2025 will likely shut down."
Project 2025 has drawn massive attention after many former Trump staffers helped craft the plan outlining how the second Trump term would operate.
The over 900-page document describes in detail a slashing of the federal government programs, while also eliminating the Department of Education and regulations on clean air and clean water. Experts who work for government agencies would be replaced by conservative loyalists who would be chosen for their personal fealty to Donald Trump.
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Sollenberger revealed that it was Trump campaign manager Chris LaCivita who went after Dans. He has also worked to shut down the team behind promoting the plan.
The plan has grown increasingly unpopular as news about its contents grows, polling shows.
"Dans confirmed in an email to colleagues Tuesday that he is stepping down from his role at Heritage, where he directed Project 2025," wrote Sollenberger. "Dans said in the email he was leaving in order to focus his energy on 'winning bigly' for conservative candidates this election cycle."
Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025 despite the fact that many of his own former officials had a hand in writing it and despite the fact that he has embraced many of its ideas.
"I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they're saying and some of the things they're saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them," Trump said on Truth Social.
He made similar comments at a Michigan campaign rally.
The campaign's problem is that so many of the plan's architects are former Trump appointees, staff, or allies. Meanwhile, Trump's running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), wrote a forward for the book based on Project 2025, which was written by the Heritage Foundation's president, Kevin Roberts.
Protect Democracy writer and editor Amanda Carpenter pointed out the discrepancy between the report and Trump's claims.
"So the Trump campaign is saying it is not connected to Project 2025 but got the director of Project 2025 fired because of the blowback it is having on his campaign," she said on X.
Sollenberger said that this indicates that the whole plan is being shut down amid the "widespread criticism" of the "manifesto."
