"This will be The Handmaid's Tale" - Netizens fear the worst over Project 2025 becoming a reality under Trump's presidency 

The expression “Project 2025” is once again trending online, after Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election on November 6. It is a political initiative that was published by the American conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation in April 2023.

It aims to promote right-wing and conservative ideologies and policies and restructure the existing federal government under the leadership of Donald Trump. In the wake of the Republican’s win on Wednesday, netizens are expressing their concern over Project 2025 becoming a reality.

For instance, X user Jess aka @sapphictropes shared a post reading:

“For the people who said Project 2025 wasn’t possible bc of checks and balances…republican president, republican senate, republican house, republican supreme court. this will be the handmaid’s tale.”

Many joined the conversation and shared similar fears on the platform.

“I will not comply with Project 2025,” a person wrote.

"That's what I've been afraid of for years. So many times, I've been watching The Handmaid's Tale thinking, 'This could *actually* happen in the near future.' Not necessarily everything, but a lot of it. It's truly terrifying," one person wrote.

“Scarily close to fiction becoming reality,” wrote another.

“This is about to be the WORST 4 yrs for women, I'm genuinely distraught,” a user wrote.

Meanwhile, others pointed out how Donald Trump has never supported the manifesto and will not be implementing it.

“Still pushing this Project 2025 gimmick lmao y’all are not serious people,” a netizen wrote.

“Did you see when he said MULTIPLE times he does not endorse the 2025 plan? Or did you choose to ignore it?” one netizen wrote.

“At what point are y’all gone realize Project 2025 is not real?” an individual wrote.

“Project 2025 plan has been debunked like 500x times now. Cope harder,” wrote another.

Notably, Donald Trump has never publicly endorsed the conservative manifesto. However, his campaign put forward something similar called Agenda47 during the election season. It offers the policies of the President-elect which will be enacted once he joins Office in January 2025.

Some of Agenda47’s proposed agenda includes stricter immigration policies, restrictions on abortion, easing climate regulations, and creating “freedom cities,” among others. While some of it might require Congressional approval, others could be implemented through executive orders from the President.

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All you need to know about Project 2025

Project 2025 or the 2025 Presidential Transition Project is a 900-page manifesto published by the right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation in 2023. NPR described it as a

“conservative guidebook to expand presidential powers and overhaul the federal workforce so that it can be replaced with partisan loyalists.”

The document, which contained 30 essays, offered legal steps for Trump to execute his policy goals alongside transition and recruitment plans to help him avoid mistakes that his administration made during his first term in the Oval Office. It further outlined ways to tackle "moral and foundational challenges America faces in this moment of history."

Some of the notable policies outlined in the 2025 Presidential Transition Project include mass deportation of undocumented/ illegal immigrants, elimination of federal agencies such as the Department of Education and Department of Justice, abortion ban, and more.

The current President-elect distanced himself from it. In July 2024, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social and wrote:

“I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it. I disagree with some of the things they’re saying and some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal. Anything they do, I wish them luck, but I have nothing to do with them.”

Meanwhile, the Democrats tried to connect Trump to the 2025 Presidential Transition Project throughout the election cycle. Ahead of the Fourth of July, James Singer, a spokesperson for Joe Biden told the press,

“248 years ago tomorrow America declared independence from a tyrannical king, and now Donald Trump and his allies want to make him one at our expense.”

The Heritage Foundation too cleared the air that the 2025 Presidential Transition Project was not the game plan for a potential second term of Donald Trump, but rather “recommendations” from conservatives, adding it was “ultimately up to” the President.