The Heritage Foundation went all-in for Trump in 2024. Its “Project 2025” served as a blueprint for many of Trump’s acts of cultural, economic, and political demolition in the first half of his term. The American people noted their intense disapproval of Trump and his ideas during the midterms, which leaves Heritage in a difficult spot. Where will it go from here?
As I see it, Heritage has two choices: either distance itself from Trump the capricious authoritarian and insist that it only stands for its own reactionary ideas; or dive deeper into anti-democratic theories of government. The first would be a transparent and self-serving rewriting of history; the second is hardly likely to get much of a hearing from anyone outside of the extreme elements of the reactionary base in a country that appears to be rediscovering its liberal democratic roots.