Since the 1960s, think tanks and advocacy groups have been key influencers of presidential policymaking. For decades, Democrat and Republican presidents have relied on think tanks for research and policy ideas. Most recently, think tank roles have shifted from advisory to actual policy formulation and implementation, whereby the President is the marionette controlled by the think tank puppeteers.
Research is replete with the fact that seven conservative organizations have had, in just 285 days of Trump 2.0 – hundreds of their recommendations implemented. If, since Jan. 20, your mind has been spinning around after witnessing a rapidly reshaped federal government and change in international diplomacy and social norms, you may wonder who is pulling Trump’s strings.
Let’s examine the seven think tank puppeteers who have controlled President Trump since Jan. 20 and will continue to change the USA until Jan. 2029. This should help you better understand what’s going on at the White House.
Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025
Donald Trump posted on Truth Social in mid-2024 “I know nothing about Project 2025” despite an April 2022 speech at a Heritage Foundation event where he endorsed or acknowledged the project’s efforts (Salon, July 11, 2024).
Project 2025, a 922-page blueprint, contained 735 detailed policy proposals across for Trump to implement across 20 federal agencies (CBS News). Interestingly, only 31% of Republicans are aware of Project 2025 (Navigator Research) and of those who are knowledgeable, only 7% view the blueprint favorably (NBC News).
Data from the Center for Progressive Reform and Governing for Impact’s Oct. 15 report reveals the Trump 2.0 administration has already implemented 251 domestic policies written by the Heritage Foundation. Sixty-four of Project 2025’s foreign affairs and international economic policy proposals have also been implemented since Trump’s inauguration.
Together, this means 315 of Project 2025’s policy proposals (42.8%) have been implemented by Mr. Trump (The Hill). Additionally, about 70% of Trump’s cabinet and over 50 senior officials had prior roles with Heritage or its Project 2025 partner groups (DeSmog).
Here’s just nine high-profile recommendations Mr. Trump implemented: 1) disbanding U.S. Agency for International Development, 2) prohibiting transgender individuals from serving in the military, 3) allocating funds for 100,000 ICE detention beds, 4) laying off thousands of IRS employees and eliminating new funding for tax enforcement, 5) deploying Secret Service and other federal officers as law enforcement in Washington, D.C., 6) canceling federal contracts supporting diversity, equity and inclusion, 7) defunding NPR, PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 8) withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement and 9) expanding tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico and China. (The Hill and BBC)
America First Policy
America First Policy Institute (AFPI) prepared nearly 300 executive orders ready for Trump’s signature immediately after his Jan. 20 inauguration. AFPI dominates Trump’s “America First” economic nationalism, immigration restrictions and deregulation task forces personnel and their co-founder Linda McMahon is now Secretary of Education (NPR).
Center for Renewing America
The Center for Renewing America, founded by Russel Vought -- top Project 2025 architect and Director, Office of Management and Budget -- has been instrumental in shaping policies around Schedule F (civil service reclassification), Christian nationalist faith-based governance and federal budget restructuring (Politico).
Claremont Institute
The Claremont Institute has contributed ideological frameworks promoting “national conservatism,” advancing “constitutional conservatism,” state-level resistance to the federal bureaucracy, DEI reforms and climate-related executive orders (DeSmog).
Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College-trained figures have taken education posts across Trump’s agencies, promoting the nationalization of curriculum and the rollback of federal education standards (NCSL).
America First Legal
Stephen Miller’s organization, America First Legal, advises Mr. Trump on litigation and executive acts aimed at neutralizing federal civil rights enforcement, immigration enforcement, Department of Justice strategies and border governance (Politico).
Council for National Policy
The Council for National Policy is the hub for political appointments and helps integrate religious nationalist proposals into agencies’ missions, including Health and Human Services and Education (DeSmog).
285-day assessment of Trump 2.0
Mr. Trump has followed the playbooks presented to him by seven self-serving organizations. Already in play are 251 policies that span from federal agency restrictions to immigration crackdowns, rollback of environmental civil rights protections, and significant centralization of the executive branch.
Internationally, 64 policies created by think tanks are in force and have enabled Mr. Trump to take a sharp pivot toward isolationism, trade protectionism and militarized deterrence that is consistent with the “America First” concept (The Fulcrum).
But, hold your hat. The Project 2025 Tracker and other independent observers note that another 309 objectives of the marionette masters remain “in progress” (www.project2025.observer/en). Reformation of America has only just begun as we’ve still got 1,176 days of Trump 2.0 to go.
As the late Paul Harvey would say at the closure of his historic ABC News radio broadcasts, “and now you know the rest of the story. Good day.”
Steve Corbin is Professor Emeritus of Marketing at the University of Northern Iowa.
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