Trump's LONG Relationship with the Heritage Foundation

• The Heritage Foundation plays a significant role in Trump's transition team, providing policy recommendations and personnel suggestions.
• Trump receives his SUPREME COURT NOMINEES from Heritage.
• Heritage is heavily involved in Trump's transition planning, both in 2016 and in preparation for a potential 2024 presidency.
• Approximately 70 former Heritage employees worked for Trump's transition team or administration.
• For a full list of who he hired in his admin in 2016 and who wrote Project 2025 out of 140 former Trump staff look at overview section. 

 The Principles of Trumpism

Speaker Gingrich's first event at Heritage and an introduction to "Understanding Trump and Trumpism." 

On the Eve of the Trump Inaugural
Speaker Gingrich addresses a group of Heritage members the night before Donald J. Trump's inauguration. 

You can see the 5 part series here on the Heritage Foundation's website or their YouTube. 

•  Trump's administration embraced nearly two-thirds of the policy recommendations from Heritage's "Mandate for Leadership" series in his first year.
•  Download Report HERE
• Many of Trump's policies aligned with Heritage recommendations, including leaving the Paris Climate Accord, repealing Net Neutrality, and increasing military spending.
• October 17: Trump speaks at Heritage Foundation,  praises the Heritage Foundation, Ed Feulner, Ed Meese, Steve Moore, Kay James, and Bill Walton at the Heritage Foundation's 2017 President's Club Meeting.

Date: October 17, 2017

Here are key quotes from President Donald Trump's keynote address at The Heritage Foundation's President's Club Meeting 

• "Thank you Ed for that really wonderful and dynamic introduction. And because of Ed, I hear they had to make this room a lot larger, quickly, that's great, thank you very much."
• "It's an incredible honor to be here tonight to celebrate this really wonderful foundation. Just a few months from now, you will mark the 45th anniversary of this esteemed institution. For nearly a half a century, you have been titans in the fight to defend, promote, and preserve our great American heritage."

• "Few people have worked harder to protect this heritage than Ed Meese, a fearless defender of our constitution."
• "I also want to express my deep appreciation to the great Steve Moore, who is with us tonight."
• "Finally, I want to express our gratitude to Kay James, Bill Walton, and the dedicated scholars and staff at the Heritage Foundation, thank you very much."

• "Your organization is named, The Heritage Foundation, because you understand that our glorious heritage is the foundation of everything we hope to achieve."
• "We're here to ensure that we defend this legacy from any threat, foreign or domestic, that would seek to weaken our values, diminish our freedoms, or dissolve the bonds that hold us so strongly and firmly together."
• "To restore opportunity and freedom, we must continue our campaign to repeal and replace the disaster known as Obama Care."
• "We will cut the corporate tax rate from 35% all the way down to not more than 20%, way below our average competition out there in this very competitive world."
• "As long as we remember who we are, and what we are fighting for, then we will never ever fail. And as long as we have pride in our country, confidence in our future, and faith in our God, then our best days are yet to come." 

•  The Heritage Foundation adds  four members from former President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.

• The new visiting fellows include former Vice President Mike Pence, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf, former Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert L. Wilkie, and former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler. 

• Ken Cuccinelli
  • Role in Trump Administration: Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
  • Connection to Heritage: Visiting Fellow at Heritage
• Mark Morgan
  • Role in Trump Administration: Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
  • Connection to Heritage: Visiting Fellow at Heritage
• Elan S. Carr
  • Role in Trump Administration: U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism
  • Connection to Heritage: Joined Heritage post-administration
• Dustin Carmack
  • Role in Trump Administration: Chief of Staff for the Director of National Intelligence
  • Connection to Heritage: Joined Heritage post-administration
• Tim Murtaugh
  • Role in Trump Administration: Communications Director at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Director of Communications for the Trump re-election campaign
  • Connection to Heritage: Joined Heritage post-administration
• Michael J. Ellis
  • Role in Trump Administration: Special Assistant to the President, Senior Associate Counsel to the President, and Deputy National Security Council Legal Advisor
  • Connection to Heritage: Joined Heritage post-administration project 2025

 ***Heritage Foundation Event (April 2022)

  Date: April 21, 2022

**REMOVED FROM HERITAGE FOUNDATION SITE --TRUMP ANNOUNCES PROJECT 2025**

Key Mentions: Trump acknowledged the work of Heritage Foundation and its role in laying the groundwork for future conservative policies, hinting at Project 2025.

Key quotes from Trump aligning with Heritage Foundation:

• "Our country is going to hell. The critical job of institutions such as Heritage's is to lay the groundwork. And Heritage's does such an incredible job at that."

• "They're going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do and what your movement will do, when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America, and that's coming."

• "Already we have shown the power of our winning formula, working closely with many of the great people at Heritage over the four incredible years that we've worked with you a lot, and we were just discussing it with Kevin."

• "They're going to work on some other things that are going to be very exciting, I think, Kevin, I think maybe the most exciting of all."

These quotes demonstrate Trump's acknowledgment of Heritage Foundation's role in shaping conservative policies and hint at future collaborations, which is a reference to Project 2025.

Trump also praised specific Heritage Foundation figures in this speech:

• Kevin Roberts (Heritage Foundation President)
• Barb Van Andel-Gaby (Heritage Board Chairman)
• Tom Homan and Mark Morgan (Heritage fellows)

This speech shows a clear alignment between Trump and the Heritage Foundation at the time, despite his later denials of involvement with Project 2025.