Plus, Poland elects conservative president just days after MAGA
flooded into CPAC Poland...
Message From the Editor
Elon Musk’s deep ties to Project 2025 will resonate far into the future, and his reported departure from D.C. does little to change his ongoing power play. While his personal West Wing blitzkrieg is over, his cadre of surrogates will continue DOGE’s rein of error.
As Joe Fassler reveals in two new and explosive articles for DeSmog, Musk has long-running ties to the architects of
Project 2025, and those connections paved the way for the success of the 100-day blitz to bring the U.S. government to its knees, particularly the agencies in charge of protecting the environment and confronting the climate crisis.
A year ago, Donald Trump fibbed that he had no connection to Project 2025. This week, Fassler’s new map and reporting details the links between 70% percent of Trump’s cabinet members and Project 2025 — relationships that started years before Trump ran for his second term.
From Stephen Miller to Elon Musk, more than 50 senior officials are linked to the unpopular Heritage Foundation-backed initiative that has a Christian nationalist flavor and seeks to fulfill the fossil fuel industry’s dream of killing regulations and climate action.
Some, like Russell Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget, helped write the 900-page “Mandate for Leadership” blueprint. Others, like Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, fund, staff, or sit on the boards of the groups behind it.
The fact that Trump installed the plan’s architects across the federal government. is “a hugely significant finding,” said Duke University Professor Nancy MacLean.
“It shows the incredible bad faith of Trump's denials, because this is who he stocked his administration with,” MacLean added. Check out Joe's map of the full scope of Project 2025’s Trump ties.
Joe’s second story reveals that Musk’s explosive tactics behind DOGE weren’t just about cutting costs. They were the culmination of the Heritage Foundation’s years-long plan to reshape U.S. government through Project 2025.
The right-wing blueprint has now imposed authoritarian Christian Nationalist policies on Americans, and mainstreamed its objectives, hiding the true intent. Read the full story on Musk’s long-running ties to Project 2025 here.
MAGA’s influence continues to spread overseas. Days after U.S. conservatives descended on CPAC Poland, Trump’s chosen candidate just won the Polish election by a razor-thin margin. Did CPAC’s timely conference give Karol Nawrocki the winning edge? Read Sam Bright and Geoff Dembicki’s article about the U.S. conservatives who were “here to return the favour” at CPAC Poland last week.
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Thanks,
Brendan DeMelle
Executive Director
P.S. DeSmog continues to keep you informed about threats to our climate across the globe — from up-to-the minute reporting to essential database profiles that help others fight climate denial and delay. Can you donate $10 or $20 right now to support more of this essential work?
Credit: Zach Roberts
MAPPED: 70 Percent of Trump’s Cabinet Tied to Project 2025 Groups
— By Joe Fassler (20 min. read) —
More than 50 high-level Trump administration officials have links to groups behind the Heritage Foundation-backed plan, a DeSmog analysis found.
Elon Musk’s Government Legacy Was Enacting Project 2025. His Ties Go Back Years.
— By Joe Fassler (16 min. read) —
The billionaire rescued the right-wing plan to dismantle the government while at its most toxic moment. Enacting its vision at DOGE, Musk was Trump’s enabler and fall guy.
‘Here to Return the Favour’: MAGA Descends on Poland Ahead of Crucial Vote
— By Sam Bright and Geoff Dembicki (7 min. read) —
After a series of setbacks in Europe, Trump’s allies attended CPAC Poland in the hope of influencing the presidential election.
Pathways Alliance Lobbied for Policy That Hurts Its CCS Viability
— By Mitch Anderson (4 min) —
Do oil sands companies actually want to capture carbon? Canada’s new energy minister, who served on MEG’s board, has received mixed messages.
Green Goals, Dirty Fuel: Europe’s Fertiliser Industry Bets on Shale
— Agathe Bounfour and Clare Carlile (12 min. read) —
Yara’s move to “sustainable” ammonia relies on fracked gas harmful to Texan communities, investigation finds.
From the Climate Disinformation Database: American Legislative Exchange Council
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), is a Project 2025 group known for supplying industry-friendly conservative legislative blueprints to lawmakers. According to an investigation by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), “ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. On climate change, the organization says, “Global Climate Change is Inevitable. Climate change is a historical phenomenon and the debate will continue on the significance of natural and anthropogenic contributions.” Sandy Liddy Bourne, representing ALEC, said in 2004: “Carbon dioxide, the inescapable by-product of burning fossil fuels, is beneficial to plant and human life alike. The effort to regulate it as a greenhouse gas is an attempt to tax energy.”
Read the full profile and browse other individuals and organizations in our Climate Disinformation Database, Ad & PR Database, and Koch Network Database.
