Thread by @AndyKroll

1/ Hey everybody, I’ve got a new story out.

It’s an *exclusive* look inside PROJECT 2025’s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state bureaucracy for a future Trump administration.

The story began with a tip.

It's 🧵 time…

2/ A source provided @ProPublica and @ItsDocumented with the vast majority of Project 2025’s training videos for its “Presidential Administration Academy.”

23 videos totaling more than 14 hours of material.

These videos were not meant to be public.

propublica.org/article/inside…

3/ You may have heard about one part of Project 2025: its 887-page policy playbook.

Both Democrats & Trump attacked it. The playbook is so controversial that Project 2025’s director — who we wrote about below — recently stepped down from his post.

propublica.org/article/projec…

4/ Once we got the videos, we verified them. We published our exclusive story with key findings about what and who (!) are in the videos.

We also published ALL of the videos themselves.

You can watch them here:

propublica.org/article/video-…

5/ So, what did we learn from Project 2025’s trove of training videos?

I’m going to tease out a few key revelations and findings from our reporting.

Follow along… and send me questions if you got ‘em…

6/ Project 2025’s speakers offer some extreme policy suggestions.

Bethany Kozma, a former Trump-era USAID official, says future appointees “will have to eradicate climate change references from absolutely everywhere.”

WATCH:

7/ Another speaker, Katie Sullivan, a former DOJ acting A.G. general under Trump, takes aim at gender advisory roles created by Biden to “advance equal rights and opportunities.”

“That position has to be eradicated,” Sullivan says.

WATCH:

8/ These speakers know that Project 2025’s agenda is far-reaching and aggressive.

In another video, Dan Huff, a former legal adviser in the Trump White House, says future appointees are right to be worried about personal or professional blowback.

“That’s a real danger."

WATCH:

9/ You might be wondering: If Project 2025 wants to slash gov’t so much, why bother recruiting and training all these people? Why not leave the jobs empty?

In another video, Spencer Chretien, an associate director of Project 2025, answers that question:

10/ Trump and his campaign have tried to distance themselves from Project 2025.

Trump says he knows nothing about it and has “no idea who is behind it.”

Yet Trump himself has praised the Heritage Foundation, which leads P2025.

11/ The videos obtained by @ProPublica and @itsdocumented deepen the connection.

29 of the 36 speakers in the videos have worked for Trump in some capacity.

Some for his ‘16-17 transition. Many in his administration. One even on his reelection campaign.

12/ Get this: Karoline Leavitt, the Trump spokesperson quoted in our story further distancing Trump from Project 2025…

…She herself appears in one of the Project 2025 videos we obtained, titled “The Art of Professionalism.”

13/ The Heritage Fdtn & most of the people who appear in the videos cited in the story didn't respond to repeated requests for comment.

We did reach several participants, who confirmed the videos’ authenticity.

We made a YouTube playlist with all videos.

14/ There’s one last key point to make about these videos.

Trump’s 2016 victory was unexpected. He didn’t have a bench of future appointees.

His administration was slowed by staffing issues and the inexperience of its new hires.

15/ The videos show that Trump and his allies have learned from the past.

If he wins this year, there will be a small army of people ready to work for him.

That’s what makes Project 2025 “so important” to the next GOP president, per a former Trump aide:

16/END

Please you’ll read and share our story.

Watch the videos. Let us know what you find.

If you’re an **insider with a tip**, contact me. My secure comms are in my ProPublica bio.

propublica.org/article/inside…