Late this summer, a prominent right-wing think tank invited conservatives from across the country to learn how to operate in the second Donald J. Trump administration.
In a series of training sessions in Washington, former Trump officials shared with participants strategies for combating left-wing civil servants in the federal government and dealing with the mainstream media. Participants went home with thick binders filled with materials for further study. One section is titled “Stories from the Swamp: How Federal Bureaucrats Resisted President Trump.”
The class may be the work of Project 2025, a conservative policy blueprint and personnel project created by Trump supporters and Democrats seeking to tie the most radical prescriptions to the former president. turned into a political bludgeon. .
But the meeting had nothing to do with the company or its main supporter, the Heritage Foundation. Rather, they are the work of the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank that, with little publicity or scrutiny, has been working on developing concrete plans for regaining power. established itself as a key partner of the Trump campaign.
Founded in late 2020 by three wealthy Texans, the group known as AFPI has quickly infiltrated nearly every corner of Mr. Trump’s political machine and is playing a role in Trump’s plans for a second term. Closer than any external participant.
Trump has chosen one of his leaders, Linda McMahon, a former Trump Cabinet member and longtime friend, to co-chair his official transition team. Brooke Rollins, who also served in the Trump administration and is currently the chief executive of a nonprofit organization, is being discussed as a possible candidate for Trump’s chief of staff. The institute’s leadership includes other former Trump administration officials who have been planning their return over the past few years, and several have quietly moved on to work full-time on the campaign’s transition team in recent weeks.
Please wait while we confirm your access. If you’re in reader mode, exit and log into your Times account or subscribe to all Times.
Please wait while we confirm your access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want to know all about The Times? Subscribe.
