Leaked documents from the Heritage Foundation reveal that applicants to Project 2025, a scheme to build a talent pool for a potential second Trump administration, cited Nazi theorists and other far-right figures as influences. The hacked materials, analysed by the Guardian, include over 13,000 applications to the Presidential Administration Academy, a training programme for prospective staff.
Among the applicants, at least seven were members of nationwide networks of men-only, nativist and antisemitic clubs. Dozens expressed admiration for Carl Schmitt, a German political theorist known as the 'crown jurist of the Third Reich'. The findings highlight the convergence of mainstream Republicanism and far-right extremism.
Hannah Gais of the Southern Poverty Law Center commented: 'Given Project 2025’s reactionary goals, it’s no surprise that these applicants would cite authoritarian and anti-democratic rhetoric. These are the fruits of the strategy of 'no enemies to the right'.'
Project 2025 was designed to steer a future Trump administration towards radical conservative policies. Its director, Paul Dans, described the applicant database as 'akin to a conservative LinkedIn'. The leaked data, released by the transparency group Distributed Denial of Secrets, was obtained by unknown hackers.
A Heritage Foundation spokesman dismissed the report, calling the Guardian a 'leftist gossip rag' and stating that the foundation could not vet applicants from a public link. The Guardian contacted all named individuals for comment.
