Project 2025 Is Not a Warning. It’s Our Reality Now.

By Gemma Flora Ortwerth

What if I told you there was a plan, created years ago by right-wing think tanks, designed to take away your rights, erase your identity, and hand over the government to one man and his chosen loyalists? And what if I told you that this plan wasn’t theoretical, but actively being carried out right now, in real time, under the name Project 2025?

That’s not fearmongering. That’s the truth. Project 2025 is a real blueprint, written by groups like the Heritage Foundation, with the full intention of reshaping the United States into an authoritarian state that silences opposition, erases marginalized people, and dismantles what little safety net we have left. Trump and his allies began following it the moment he returned to power.

Within days of being sworn in again, Trump reinstated Schedule F, a rule that strips job protections from federal workers and makes them fireable at will. Civil servants who believe in racial equity, disability rights, LGBTQ+ inclusion, environmental science, or anything that threatens white Christian male supremacy have already been pushed out. Trump also created a new office run by Elon Musk, someone who was never elected to anything but was given access to sensitive financial data. This new office is being used to slash social programs and funnel resources away from working people, all while Musk publicly mocks the disabled, women, and trans people online. Federal agencies meant to protect civil rights, workers, and marginalized groups have been gutted. Trump removed key regulators, leaving whole departments unable to function. That’s the point. It’s about removing every single barrier between his will and the law.

All of this is part of the larger goal of executive supremacy. The administration is working quickly to erase civil service protections, end the independence of agencies like the Federal Reserve, and make every single federal employee answer directly to Trump. Courts are being ignored. Judges are being threatened. Legal norms are being shattered. And when judges rule against him, Trump simply instructs his agencies to continue anyway. What we’re witnessing isn’t reform. It’s the rise of authoritarianism cloaked in patriotic branding.

At the same time, Trump’s economic policies continue to serve only the richest people in the country. Back in his first term, he passed massive tax cuts for billionaires and corporations, promising that the money would trickle down to workers. It never did. The richest one percent saw tens of thousands in savings while most working-class families got a couple hundred bucks, if that. The national deficit ballooned, but instead of reversing course, Trump doubled down. He cut corporate regulations, attacked labor protections, and weakened unions. Wages are stagnant. Prices are up. The GDP just shrank, again, and his trade wars are pushing everyday items like strollers and clothes further out of reach. While CEOs get record pay and companies post record profits, the rest of us are getting squeezed at every corner. And when we look to the government for help, all we find is blame.

Social safety nets like Medicaid, food assistance, and disability support are on the chopping block to “pay for” the handouts given to the wealthy. It’s always the same playbook. Take from the most vulnerable and give to the most powerful. It’s not a bug of Trump’s economic model. It’s the entire design.

Outside our borders, the U.S. is becoming a global embarrassment. Our reputation as a leader in democracy and human rights has collapsed. Trump has insulted our allies, threatened to abandon NATO, and cut off support to Ukraine during an active war, which has left our partners scrambling to defend themselves. Meanwhile, Trump praises dictators like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un. He calls their brutality strength and cozies up to them while mocking leaders who actually believe in human rights. China and Russia are filling the gaps left by America’s retreat. And in many places, the U.S. is now viewed less favorably than those authoritarian regimes. That should terrify us all.

Here at home, Trump is targeting the same communities he always has, only this time with more power and fewer restraints. Transgender people have been written out of federal protections. Gender identity is no longer recognized in government systems. Trans youth are being banned from sports, blocked from bathrooms, and denied healthcare. Hospitals can legally turn people away. Shelters can reject people who don’t fit Trump’s idea of gender. The federal government is actively working to criminalize public queerness and even threatening to sue states that protect LGBTQ+ kids. Trans youth, especially, are facing soaring rates of violence, homelessness, and suicide because the message from the White House is clear: you don’t belong here.

Racial justice is under attack too. Trump has wiped out diversity programs in every federal agency. He canceled protections that were created to stop discrimination by government contractors. He stopped investigations into racist police departments. He gave the green light to discrimination in hiring, education, and housing by pretending that fairness means ignoring racism altogether. Voter suppression is growing, especially in Black and brown communities, and Trump continues to feed the lie that only his elections are legitimate.

Womb-bearing people, especially women of color and transmasculine people, have been stripped of autonomy. After helping install a Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade, Trump is now pushing for a national abortion ban with no exceptions. He cut global funding for any clinic that even mentions abortion and rolled back rules that helped survivors of sexual assault get justice. Reproductive freedom isn’t just being chipped away—it’s being dismantled at every level of government.

People with disabilities are also being targeted. Trump has proposed major cuts to Social Security and Medicaid, which would devastate disabled and chronically ill people. His administration has made it harder to qualify for disability benefits and reduced the enforcement of accessibility laws. Schools are being told they no longer have to meet inclusion standards. Public transit, federal hiring, and medical access are all being rolled back. When Elon Musk’s efficiency office started looking at Medicare and Social Security for “budget cuts,” it was clear that this administration does not believe disabled people deserve to live with dignity. These are not just policy shifts. These are decisions that shorten lives.

And none of this could happen without the full support of Congress. Republican lawmakers are not standing in the way. They are helping. They vote to confirm Trump’s extremist picks. They stay quiet when he breaks the law. They defend his attacks on the press, the courts, and the Constitution. They are more afraid of losing Trump’s approval than they are of losing our democracy. A few speak up, but most stay silent. That silence is complicity.

Project 2025 is not some secret. It is a public document. It says the quiet parts out loud. Trump and his allies want to remove every protection, strip down the government to serve only their base, and rule without limits. We are living through it. We don’t have the luxury of pretending we can vote our way out of this later. The damage is happening now. It is personal. It is targeted. And it is cruel.

But we are not powerless. We still have our voices. We still have each other. We still have the truth. And the truth is, no matter how loud they get, no matter how many laws they rewrite, no matter how many people they try to silence, we are still here. We are not going anywhere. And we will not let them define the future without a fight.