Did President-elect Donald Trump release a statement saying "I look forward to ... enact[ing] Project 2025"? No, that's not true: An image showing such a statement that went viral on social media was fabricated. Lead Stories searched Trump statements released on November 6, 2024, the same day as the date on the purported statement, and could not find this quote anywhere on his website or social media accounts.
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:
(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.
