HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — For weeks now, former President Donald Trump has claimed to have no knowledge of the people behind "Project 2025," a policy document written by members of the conservative Heritage Foundation. It outlines what an incoming Republican president should do in their first days in office.
"I have no idea who is behind it," Trump posted to his Truth Social account in July. "I have nothing to do with them."
However, a photo that has been copied and reposted many times in the past 24 hours shows Trump sitting alongside Kevin Roberts, one of the key figures behind The Heritage Foundation and Project 2025.
THE QUESTION
Is a photo with Donald Trump and Kevin Roberts genuine?
OUR SOURCES
Rumble, a video sharing website
The Heritage Foundation's YouTube page
Rev, a transcription service
THE ANSWER
The photograph appears to be genuine.
WHAT WE FOUND
We ran the image through TinEye. The reverse image search can help determine the relative age of a photo and what sources have used the image. We found that the image did not exist publicly until August 7, with all links concerning the image connecting to The Washington Post.
In an article published August 7, the Washington Post says the photograph was provided by "people familiar with the trip" that Trump and Roberts took together in April 2022.
The article notes that the trip coincided with Trump's appearance at a Heritage-led conference in Florida, where the former president gave a keynote address.
Footage of that keynote had been posted to The Heritage Foundation's own YouTube page. However, that video was pulled by YouTube. The Heritage Foundation says in a blog post that YouTube removed the video specifically because it "[violated] policies pertaining to election misinformation."
The video also did not appear to be functioning in a link by a pro-Trump account on the media-sharing site Rumble.
What does survive of that keynote address is a transcription housed on the digital library from Rev. At just after 46 minutes in, Trump is quoted as saying:
"But this is a great group. And 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. That’s coming."
Roberts reportedly told The Post previously that he has discussed Project 2025 with Trump as part of briefings that had been offered to all of the Republican candidates in the presidential race.
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