From Denial to Doctrine: How Project 2025 Is Becoming U.S. Governance

By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News
Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — January 29, 2026

During the 2024 campaign and presidential transition, Donald Trump publicly denied knowledge of Project 2025, a comprehensive conservative blueprint for restructuring the federal government. Since taking office on January 20, 2025, multiple elements of that plan have begun appearing in federal policy, administrative actions, and enforcement priorities.

At the same time, mandated transparency measures — including the release of Epstein-related investigative files — have stalled under executive control, while high-visibility federal enforcement actions have dominated national attention.

Taken together, these developments raise questions about whether early governance under the Trump administration reflects a systematic shift away from institutional independence and public accountability.

What Project 2025 Was — and Wasn’t Supposed to Be

Project 2025 was developed by the Heritage Foundation and allied organizations as a governing framework for a future conservative administration. The project outlines detailed proposals for restructuring federal agencies, reasserting presidential control over the civil service, limiting internal oversight and inspector-general authority, centralizing executive power, and redefining enforcement priorities at the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security.

Before taking office, Trump and his representatives stated that he had no involvement with the project and did not endorse it. Those denials were widely reported at the time.

Policy Alignment After January 20, 2025

Since the beginning of Trump’s second term, several federal actions align closely with Project 2025’s framework:

• Civil service protections have been weakened through revived executive classification authorities.
• Inspectors general and internal oversight mechanisms have faced new restrictions on independence and access.
• The Department of Justice has asserted tighter executive control over disclosure decisions and prosecutorial discretion.
• The Department of Homeland Security has expanded interior enforcement operations beyond prior norms.

No official document references Project 2025 directly. However, policy alignment does not require attribution to be observable.

Epstein Files: Mandated Release, Executive Delay

In late 2025, Congress passed legislation requiring the Department of Justice to release unclassified records related to Jeffrey Epstein by a statutory deadline. As of January 2026, only a small fraction of those records has been made public, with extensive redactions.

The Justice Department has cited victim privacy and legal constraints. Lawmakers and survivor advocates have criticized the pace and scope of the release, arguing that it falls short of the law’s intent. Authority over disclosure remains within an executive branch that has moved to centralize control over DOJ operations.

Cryptocurrency and Financial Opacity

Separately, Trump-linked cryptocurrency ventures, licensing arrangements, and digital assets have created financial channels that operate outside traditional campaign-finance disclosure systems. These instruments allow anonymous or pseudonymous participation and do not require public reporting comparable to political donations.

No criminal findings have been issued. Ethics experts note that such structures create influence pathways that are difficult to trace while a political figure holds executive power.

Minnesota Enforcement and the Shift in Public Focus

In January 2026, expanded federal immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota resulted in two civilian deaths and widespread protests. The Department of Homeland Security has defended the actions as lawful, while state officials and civil-rights organizations have raised constitutional concerns.

The operations have dominated national media coverage and public debate, drawing attention toward immediate law-and-order questions and away from slower-moving issues such as document disclosure, financial transparency, and administrative restructuring.

Reporting vs. Analysis

Reporting: Project 2025 was publicly denied before Trump took office. Since January 2025, multiple federal policy changes align closely with its framework. The Department of Justice has not fully complied with a statutory deadline to release Epstein-related records. Trump-linked crypto ventures operate outside standard political-finance disclosure rules. DHS enforcement actions in Minnesota have generated national attention and controversy.

Analysis: No evidence has emerged of a single coordinated cover-up. However, the convergence of centralized executive control, delayed transparency, financial opacity, and attention-dominating enforcement actions reflects a governance environment in which accountability mechanisms are weakened while public focus is redirected. In any constitutional system, unresolved questions of transparency, financial influence, and use of state power warrant full investigation, and those found to have engaged in corruption or abuse of authority must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Corrections and Updates

This article reflects publicly available information as of January 26, 2026. WPS News will update this report as additional documents, disclosures, or court rulings become available.

References (APA)

Heritage Foundation. (2023). Project 2025: Presidential transition project.
U.S. Congress. (2025). Epstein Files Transparency Act.
U.S. Department of Justice. (2025–2026). Public statements and disclosures.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2026). Minnesota enforcement operations briefings.