The right-wing organization in Trump’s ear replacing the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025

Implementing loyalists to executive branch positions, forcing local and state law enforcement agencies to comply with mass deportation and taking a confrontational approach to relations with China are all policies promoted by the America First Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank with influence over Donald Trump. Ariana Baio breaks it down

Donald Trump spent the last few months vehemently denying he or his campaign is closely tied to the Heritage Foundation – the right-wing think tank responsible for publishing Project 2025, a controversial list of policy ideas aimed at consolidating executive power.

But there’s another rising influential right-wing think tank that has developed its own extremist platform for the new Trump administration: the America First Policy Institute (AFPI).

Founded in 2021 by two former Trump administration officials, AFPI has quietly grown its team, increased revenue and expanded its policy ideas to become an influential force in the MAGA world.

AFPI’s plans include requiring ultrasounds for people obtaining abortions (even for medication abortions), making civil servants easier to fire by changing them to at-will employees, and reversing gun control laws – just to name a few.

The organization’s chairperson, Linda McMahon, is already an official member of Trump’s presidential transition team — making it even more likely the President-elect will adopt some of its policies in his second term.

AFPI’s agenda consists of 10 “pillars” to reshape the executive branch and enact changes that it claims will improve the United States – in a similar but less organized fashion than the 900-page Project 2025.

The Heritage Foundation and AFPI mirror each other’s overall goals and ideas, including: drastic cuts to federal agencies, installing loyalists over qualified individuals, scaling back abortion rights, restricting assistance to allies and more.

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign distanced itself from Project 2025 after it recieved negative attention from Democrats (Getty Images)

Here are the major focus points of the AFPI’s plan that could end up becoming government policy.

The Economy

Increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve, isolating the United States economy, cutting back government assistance and expanding oil and gas drilling projects are major themes of AFPI’s proposed economic policies.

Most of the policies echo the same vague promises Trump made on the campaign trail to lower inflation and make the U.S. more affordable.

That includes imposing sweeping tariffs, which economists have warned would do the inverse. The plan also encourages making the 2017 Tax Cuts and Job Act permanent, which mostly benefits wealthy individuals and corporations, and increasing oil production, which some have warned will not lower the cost of gas.

Perhaps most concerning for economists is the potential for Trump to try and influence the Federal Reserve – the central banking system intended to live separately from political policy. AFPI suggests pressuring it to keep interest rates low – something Trump desired during his first term.

Tara Sinclair, professor of Economics at George Washington University, told The Independent that the independence of the Fed is “really important for maintaining low inflation.”

Finally, among their policies to make the U.S. economy “work for all”, AFPI suggests “work requirements for able-bodied Americans receiving federal assistance” – a policy targeted at Republicans’ common assertion that people abuse federal programs out of laziness.

Social issues

The organization capitalizes on the Constitutional right to religious freedom to protect the right of “religious believers” to act in any way they believe is in accordance with their religion. It also encourages allowing prayer in public schools.

When it comes to abortion, AFPI suggests ending all federal funding to Planned Parenthood and restricts abortion access by requiring in-person ultrasounds for anyone seeking any kind of abortion.

AFPI opposes gun restrictions, encourages all 50 states to allow for constitutional carry and supports restraining the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

In keeping with the conservative push against transgender athletes, AFPI also encourages people to challenge laws that protect a person from gender discrimination under Title IX and eliminate the definition of gender identity.

Education

“Parent rights” is a growing phrase in the conservative movement that encourages parents to have input and control over their children’s school curriculum to prevent the spread of progressive ideas. Much of AFPI’s policies fall in line with this.

The organization encourages state laws that mandate schools share lesson plans and curriculum with parents, allow parents to challenge “unsuitable” materials and revoke federal funding to schools that teach “revisionist” history.

AFPI cites the New York Times’s “1619 Project” as “radical political advocacy masquerading as ‘journalism’”  and encourages the elimination of public school district boundaries to give parents wider access to charter schools.

As part of its aggressive approach to China and other adversary governments, AFPI also suggests limiting donations to education institutions from foreigners and scrutinizing students from countries with adversarial governments who attend U.S. schools.

Immigration and foreign policy

Anti-immigration policies were the most prominent pillar of Trump’s campaign. His winning message promised to deport all undocumented immigrants.

In order to accomplish that, AFPI calls for local and state law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration laws, like identifying and detaining immigrants accused of a crime. As of now, only 60 of the over 17,000 law enforcement departments across the U.S. participate in the program.

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of mass deportation (AFP via Getty Images)

Other immigration policies include finishing building the U.S.–Mexico border wall, establishing civil and criminal penalties for employers who knowingly hire undocumented immigrants and increasing Border Patrol personnel.

AFPI’s policies promote a more isolationist approach to the U.S.’s role abroad with allies and adversaries than the Biden presidency – “America First” if you will.

They prioritize confronting China and Iran, bolstering the U.S. military, aggressively backing Israel, becoming reluctant to give allies aid and stepping back from international organizations. Many of these are sentiments Trump shared during his campaign.

Overall, the goals seek to reposition the U.S. as a worldwide mediator.

Fred Fletiz, the chair of the AFPI’s Center for American Security, is reportedly responsible for presenting Trump with a well-received plan to end the Ukraine–Russia war by forcing Ukraine to enter peace talks by withholding U.S. military aid.

Additionally, the policies oppose giving aid to Palestine or interacting with organizations that have condemned Israel’s offensive military operations in Gaza, including any college or university that has supported the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

Climate

Many of AFPI’s proposed energy and climate policies overlap with economic and foreign policy goals such as increasing the number of oil and gas drilling permits on federal lands and shifting climate change blame to China and “other adversarial nations.”

Trump and his allies are vocal opponents of the Biden administration’s climate change initiatives, intended to improve air and water quality and slow the impact of carbon emissions.

Carla Sands, a former Trump administration ambassador, currently heads the AFPI’s Center for Energy and the Environment. She has promoted conspiracy theories about climate change, such as children are being “brainwashed” into dying by suicide to reduce their carbon impact 

Elections

An entire section is dedicated to addressing Trump’s false claims of mass voter fraud during the 2020 election and solving non-problems related to election security.

AFPI’s policies support eliminating mail-in ballot drop boxes, require voter rolls to be made public online (which some places already do) and prohibiting people from mailing in a ballot unless they sign an affidavit asserting they cannot vote on Election Day.

Trump, pictured on November 6, espoused rhetoric that insinuated the 2024 election had fraudulent votes hours before results came in and he won (Getty)

Some of these proposed ideas restrict accessibility to general election voting like requiring voters to have a driver’s license number or Social Security number to vote via absentee ballot.

Crime

Despite violent crime rates dwindling nationwide, Trump has used harrowing stories and unsubstantiated claims to promote “tough on crime” policies as part of his effort to promote safety.

The policies proposed by AFPI largely fall in line with that narrative. It encourages strong enforcement of criminal laws and enhancing penalties for specific offenders – like gang members or those accused of theft.

To promote harsher punishments, AFPI suggests advocating for judges who believe in originalism – or the legal theory that the Constitution should be interpreted as the framers intended. Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Antonin Scalia are originalists.

That idea bolsters AFPI’s proposal to add more protections for political speech and religious freedoms.

The executive branch

Just like Project 2025, AFPI’s policies propose massive changes to the executive branch like relocating physical federal agencies and Cabinet departments to low-income areas of the U.S.

It also encourages dismantling the administrative state by requiring congressional vote in order to implement rules and regulations within federal agencies.

Perhaps the most alarming change is making all agency heads “serve to the pleasure of the president.”

Typically, agency or department heads are civil servants with interest or experience in the specific industry they are serving. However, AFPI suggests lowering the barrier for those who can be appointed to these positions by removing educational requirements like four-year college degrees.