Geopolitics Review — 19th May 2025

The Donald Diaries: Trump’s Key Documents

Contents

1. Introduction
2. What Is Project 2025?
3. What Is Schedule F?
4. What Is Agenda 47?
5. Concluding Remarks

Bitesize Edition

• Today is more of a flashback than a discussion on Trump’s current endeavours. Even before he reentered the Oval Office in January, we had a range of documents that were providing some hints to where Trump’s second term could head.
• These documents were Project 2025, Schedule F, and Agenda 47. One was rejected by Trump as he sought distance from their more extreme policies. Another was an executive order Trump attempted to issue at the end of his first term. The final document was Trump’s campaign manifesto.
• Trump is tied to each document with varying degrees, but they can all give us indications of Trump’s overall direction. So we’ll dive into these documents on a deeper level, before looking forward into Trump’s longer-term visions over the coming weeks.

Introduction

Before Trump entered office, many pondered what his second term could look like. Project 2025 and Schedule F were frequently referred to, and Agenda 47 was his manifesto. Today, I’ll explore whether he has followed the roadmaps that these policies mapped out. Let’s dive in.

What Is Project 2025?

Project 2025 is a 900-page report proposed by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing political think tank. The group produces policy plans for Republican administrations, first starting with Ronald Reagan’s administration in 1981. This time around, Trump distanced himself from the project after some of its more controversial proposals led to uproar, especially from the Democrats who wished to tie Trump to the project.

But, during his first term, the Heritage Foundation boasted that the Trump administration had adopted over 66% of their proposed policies. To start, let’s dive into what Project 2025’s key policies were for Trump’s second term. Its four key aims are as follows:

• Restore the family as the centre of American life.
• Dismantle the administrative state.
• Defend the nation’s sovereignty and borders.
• Secure God-given individual rights to live freely.

This can be narrowed down politically to what is known as “unitary executive theory”. This gives the President unrestricted control of the entire federal government, including independent agencies that are supposed to pursue checks and balances against the government, such as the Department of Justice. We have seen such judicial reforms pursued in other nations around the world, and they achieve the opposite of political free will and independence. The aim, according to the Heritage Foundation, is to streamline decision-making and improve productivity. But this also included eliminating jobs for thousands of government employees who would then be replaced by political appointees. This sounds similar to Trump’s early pursuits, as through DOGE, he eliminated job protections for civil servants and froze federal funding for many departments. The report also has controversial policies on abortion, immigration, and education, such as increasing funding for a US-Mexico border wall, withdrawing the abortion pill mifepristone from the market, and an end to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Trump hasn’t pursued the first two policies, but an end to DEI has been a large part of Trump’s crackdown.

Photo by Darren Halstead on

At this current point, it seems Trump isn’t actively pursuing Project 2025, but parts of the report do fall in line with Trump’s pursuits.

Now, let’s move on to Schedule F.

What Is Schedule F?

Schedule F dives deeper into Trump’s pursuits for job changes in government. Back in October 2020, during Trump’s first term, he issued an executive order. This order, often referred to as Schedule F because it was the name of the new employment category that was created as a result, would have stripped protections from civil servants who were deemed “disloyal”. Because Trump didn’t remain in office, we don’t know what effects would have been seen. However, he is back in now, and before he returned to office, he stated he would reissue Schedule F.

Thus far, we have seen government job reform pursued through DOGE, but the actual details of the Musk-led project remain uncertain. Many were offered job buyouts, but then their removal from their jobs was rejected by judges and the Supreme Court, and hence, many were called to be rehired. If the aim of Schedule F is to improve government efficiency, then that is a worthwhile pursuit, since greater efficiency is a great aim. However, removing and rehiring government workers sounds the opposite of efficient.

Photo by Kayle Kaupanger on

Also, if the pursuit of Schedule F is to place loyalists to Trump in government who always say yes, then this will discourage innovation. Loyalty doesn’t translate to the best to do the job, and it certainly doesn’t serve the public. Disagreements can help everyone grow, but when faced with agreement at every turn, a government and the nation it leads could actually get very comfortable and slip downwards.

Trump has been flaunting the power of the United States since he entered office with his tariff policy and his hope to use them as a negotiating tool. A pursuit of Schedule F would support such a power-based world order that Trump is seeking, with the hope being that this control would start at home.

Finally, let’s dive deeper into Trump’s campaign manifesto.

What Is Agenda 47?

Finally, what is Agenda 47, and its key ideas? This document consists of Trump’s campaign proposals, first posted in December 2022. So, what was detailed in the wider document?

• Education — Parents to elect principals, cutting funding to any school teaching “critical race theory”, ending teacher tenure, creating a new credentialing body to certify teachers “who embrace patriotic values”, encouraging prayer in school, and supporting school districts that allow teachers to carry concealed firearms.
• Universities — Getting rid of existing accreditors and levying significant fines on institutions that Trump believes “discriminate” against students.
• Climate Change — Leave the Paris Climate Accord, removing Biden’s policies restricting emissions and targeting 67% of new vehicles to be electric by 2032, and more oil and gas production.
• Justice Department — Appoint 100 U.S. attorneys aligned with Trump’s policies, investigate left-leaning attorneys, and establish a DOJ task force on “protecting the right to self-defence”.
• Crime — Policies like “stop and frisk” implemented, direct the DOJ to “dismantle every gang, street crew, and drug network in America”, deploy federal troops, including the National Guard, and impose the death penalty for drug dealers, drug cartels, and human traffickers.
• Immigration — Prohibit undocumented immigrants from receiving any benefits, end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, reinstate a “travel ban” from certain countries, pause refugee admissions, close the southern border to asylum seekers, and suspend visa programs, including the visa lottery and family visas.
• Economy — Cutting taxes, slashing federal regulations, and proposing baseline tariffs on foreign goods.
• Healthcare — Federal agencies are required to buy medicines and medical devices manufactured in the United States, government is to only pay pharmaceutical companies the “best price they offer to foreign nations”.
• Foreign Policy and Defence — European allies to pay back the United States for depleting military stockpiles sent to Ukraine, new restrictions on Chinese-owned infrastructure in the United States, and building a missile defence shield.
• Social Security — No cuts to Social Security or Medicare.
• Homelessness — Ban “public camping”, instead giving a choice of receiving treatment or being arrested, calls to create large tent cities to relocate homeless people, where doctors and social workers would be present.
• Transgender Rights — Any healthcare provider providing gender-affirming care for youth to be terminated from Medicare and Medicaid, strip federal funding from schools where an official or teacher suggests a child could be “trapped in the wrong body”, and encourage Congress to pass legislation recognising only two genders.
• Big Tech — Ban any federal department from working with other entities to censor Americans and prohibit federal money from being used to combat misinformation.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on

Agenda 47 is where we see that Trump’s first few months have most aligned with the three documents. This makes sense with it being his manifesto. He has attacked educational institutions that aren’t in line with his policies, including Harvard and Columbia. He left the Paris Climate Accord, has heavily pursued immigration changes, especially through his deportations, and, of course, we have seen blanket tariffs imposed. Trump’s recent executive order also targeted the pharmaceutical industry, and he is in pursuit of deals aiming to get some compensation for aid to Ukraine, which was achieved with the minerals deal signed with Ukraine at the end of April. Finally, Trump has stated that only two genders exist, even going as far as to include this in executive orders. For all the executive orders Trump proposed in his first few days, I covered this in a post here:

So, parts of each of these important documents have been pursued in Trump’s first few months to varying degrees. But some policies mentioned here haven’t yet been pursued. We also have many interviews with Trump’s closest advisors and confidants in his administration, where different potential policies have been discussed. If we consider all of this, while also zooming out to view the bigger picture, what is his end goal here? He clearly wants more power and control, but what policies will he enact to get there? Trump wants all the cards, and could his most important card be the Mar-A-Lago Accord? Find out on Thursday.

Concluding Remarks

Returning to these documents is important because they all contribute to the direction Trump and his administration are heading in. So, on Thursday, I’ll dive into Trump’s pursuit to change the global financial system and the world of work, and how a potential Mar-A-Lago Accord could impact the United States and the wider world.

News In Geopolitics This Week:

Africa

Asia

Europe

Middle East

North America

South America

Other

Thanks for reading! I’d greatly appreciate it if you were to like or share this post with others! If you want more then subscribe on Substack for these posts directly to your email inbox. I research history, geopolitics, and financial markets to understand the world and the people around us. If any of my work helps you be more prepared and ease your mind, that’s great. If you like what you read please share with others.

Key Links

If you want to see daily updates and discover other newsletters that suit you, download the Substack App.

Get more from Dylan Muggleton in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

You can become a paid subscriber to support my work. There are paid posts every Thursday and long-form monthly articles in my global questions series exclusively for paid subscribers. The Geopolitics Database is also accessible. Read Geopolitics Explained for 20p per day or start a free trial below to find out if my work is for you! I appreciate your support!

Sources: