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Trump's CIA director, 'border czar' picks were Project 2025 contributors | Fact check
The claim: Trump hired ‘the guy who wrote’ Project 2025
A Nov. 12 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claims a person with ties to a controversial document is among President-elect Donald Trump's appointments ahead of his second term in office.
“The guy who said he didn’t know anything about Project 2025 just announced he’s hiring the guy who wrote Project 2025,” the post reads.
Other versions of the claim spread widely on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter.
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Our rating: Partly false
At the time the claim was shared on Nov. 12, Trump had selected two people affiliated with Project 2025 to join his administration. But it's not accurate to describe anyone as "the guy who wrote Project 2025" since the document reflects the combined effort of an array of conservative organizations and writers.
Nominees for border czar, CIA director linked to Project 2025
Project 2025 is a collaborative effort by the Heritage Foundation and more than 100 other conservative organizations outlining policy recommendations that would effectively overhaul the federal government if implemented.
Trump tried to distance himself from it in the months before the election. He claimed to “know nothing about Project 2025” in a Truth Social post and said he hadn’t and wasn’t going to read the document in a Sept. 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
That said, a myriad of current and former Trump staffers were involved in the project, and Trump has publicly touted proposals similar to those of Project 2025, as USA TODAY previously reported.
Fact check: No, the Heritage Foundation did not endorse Kamala Harris for president
And some of Trump’s appointments do have known ties to the project.
Trump named Tom Homan, a former border patrol agent who previously served as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as his "border czar” on Nov. 10, two days before the post was shared, as reported by USA TODAY. It’s not an official job title at the Department of Homeland Security, but it means Homan will oversee the “mass deportation” effort Trump has pledged to implement in his second presidency.
Homan, a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, is listed as a contributor to Project 2025. Also listed as a contributor is former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, whom Trump tapped to serve as CIA director on Nov. 12.
The document doesn't specify which aspects of its proposals Homan and Ratcliffe had a hand in.
Project 2025 also says there is not “unanimity among the contributors or the organizations with which they are affiliated with regard to the recommendations.”
Trump’s other selections made before the Facebook claim was posted, including Susie Wiles as his chief of staff and Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security adviser, are not identified as contributors to Project 2025.
Kevin Roberts, the Heritage Foundation’s president who’s been referred to as one of Project 2025’s main architects, wrote the foreword to the 900-plus page document. He had not been named to a position in Trump’s administration as of Nov. 15.
USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims related to Project 2025, including false assertions that it calls to close FEMA, that it proposes a military draft for all public school seniors and that it calls to close the National Hurricane Center.
The Heritage Foundation declined to comment on the claim. USA TODAY reached out to several users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
Check Your Fact also addressed the claim.
Our fact-check sources
Project 2025, accessed Nov. 13, 2025 Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise
USA TODAY, Nov. 12, Donald Trump names former intelligence chief John Ratcliffe to CIA director
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's border, CIA hires contributed to Project 2025 | Fact check