Fact Check: Trump Did NOT Release Official Statement Saying He Intended To 'Enact Project 2025'

Fact Check

  • by: Marlo Lee
Fact Check: Trump Did NOT Release Official Statement Saying He Intended To 'Enact Project 2025' Fabricated

Did President-elect Donald Trump release a statement saying "I look forward to ... enact[ing] Project 2025"? No, that's not true: This statement was fabricated. Lead Stories searched Trump statements released on November 6, 2024, the same day as the purported statement, and could not find this quote. Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, a conservative think tank's initiative, posting on Facebook in July 2024 that he "knows nothing" about it.

The claim appeared in a post on X (archived here) on November 6, 2024. The alleged Trump statement read, in part:

I look forward to working with members of the new Congress to quickly secure our border, cut inflation, and enact Project 2025, which, to be completely honest, is one of the great platforms of all time.

This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:

Screenshot 2024-11-07 at 8.50.33 AM.png

(Source: X screenshot taken on Thu Nov 7 13:57:11 2024 UTC)

The post does not offer any substantive evidence that this statement was legitimate.

"Project 2025" is a political initiative spearheaded by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation (archived here). Trump distanced himself from Project 2025 in July 2024, and, at the time of writing, had not announced any plans to embrace it.

On July 5, 2024, Trump posted on his verified Facebook account (archived here):

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.

We checked Trump's website for statements that have been released since he was declared the winner of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Two statements were released on November 6, 2024, the same day the alleged statement was released. Neither of the two mentioned enacting Project 2025. The first statement (archived here) read:

'President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke by phone earlier today where she congratulated him on his historic victory. President Trump acknowledged Vice President Harris on her strength, professionalism, and tenacity throughout the campaign, and both leaders agreed on the importance of unifying the country.' - Steven Cheung, Trump Campaign Communications Director

The second statement (archived here) read:

'President Joe Biden called President Donald J. Trump to congratulate him on his victory and extended an invitation to the White House to ensure a smooth transition between the current Administration and the incoming Administration. President Trump looks forward to the meeting, which will take place shortly, and very much appreciated the call.' - Steven Cheung, Trump Campaign Communications Director

We also searched key phrases on Google News (archived here), which did not result in any articles about him vowing to enact it.

Lead Stories has contacted Trump's staff and will update this article when a relevant response is received.

More Lead Stories fact checks of claims concerning Donald Trump are here.

Other Lead Stories fact checks of claims surrounding the 2024 U.S. presidential election are here.

Want to inform others about the accuracy of this story?

See who is sharing it (it might even be your friends...) and leave the link in the comments.:

Marlo Lee is a fact checker at Lead Stories. She is a graduate of Howard University with a B.S. in Biology. Her interest in fact checking started in college, when she realized how important it became in American politics. She lives in Maryland.

Read more about or contact

About Us

International Fact-Checking Organization Meta Third-Party Fact Checker

Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
Spotted something? Let us know!.

Lead Stories is a:


WhatsApp Tipline

Have a tip or a question? Chat with our friendly robots on WhatsApp!

Add our number +1 (404) 655-4223, follow this link or scan the image below with your phone:

@leadstories

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Lead Stories LLC:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Most Read

Most Recent

Share your opinion