'Put Them in Trauma': Inside a Key MAGA Leader’s Plans for a New Trump Agenda (propublica.org)

🧠 Overview

This ProPublica investigation highlights the role of Russ Vought, a former Trump administration official and head of the Center for Renewing America, in shaping the ideological and strategic underpinnings of Trump’s second-term agenda.

The article features a video obtained by ProPublica in which Trump appears alongside Vought in a private strategy session with supporters and conservative leaders. Vought’s think tank is a key player in Project 2025, a sweeping plan to remake the federal government by dismantling the administrative state, centralizing executive power, and purging career civil servants.

Vought’s organization promotes Christian nationalist and authoritarian principles, and his coordination with Trump signals a potentially radical departure from democratic norms should Trump return to office. The piece examines how think tank infrastructures are being weaponized to carry out ideologically extreme agendas with institutional legitimacy.

“It’s not just policy; it’s personnel and power.” — one of the article’s central themes

📽️ The video and article show Trump praising Vought’s efforts, framing them as essential to “fixing” the deep state. The collaboration further cements the alignment between Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, and MAGA-aligned efforts to overhaul U.S. governance.

📚 Context: This article connects to broader reporting on the right’s long-term strategy to capture institutions, reshape the judiciary, and undermine democratic guardrails — echoing previous investigations into the Powell Memo, Project 2025, and the court capture scheme outlined by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

📌 This summary was generated by ChatGPT based on publicly available reporting from ProPublica.