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www.cnn.com
Vought, one of the key authors of Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term, expected the meeting would help his think tank secure a substantial contribution. For nearly two hours, he talked candidly about his behind-the-scenes work to prepare policy for former President Donald Trump, his expansive views on presidential power, his plans to restrict pornography and immigration, and his complaints that the GOP was too focused on “religious liberty” instead of “Christian nation-ism.”
But the men Vought was talking to actually worked for a British journalism nonprofit and were secretly recording him the entire time.
Vought said he was unfazed by Trump’s repeated denials of any connection with Project 2025, dismissing such public statements as politics.
“I see what he’s doing is just very, very conscious distancing himself from a brand,” Vought said. “It’s interesting, he’s in fact not even opposing himself to a particular policy.”
About a week after the conversation, the director of Project 2025 stepped down, and Trump’s campaign managers said in a statement that “reports of Project 2025’s demise would be greatly welcomed.”
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.