'This will be 'The Handmaid’s Tale'': Public outcry grows over Trump’s Project 2025

Netizens voice concerns over potential rollback of rights under the plan.

After Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential victory, public discourse around the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 has reignited, prompting significant concerns across social media. 

Published by the conservative think tank in April 2023, Project 2025 proposes a sweeping overhaul of the federal government, with policies that would strengthen presidential powers and promote conservative values under Trump’s potential leadership.

One Twitter user voiced widespread alarm, saying, “For the people who said Project 2025 wasn’t possible… this will be the handmaid’s tale,” while another user echoed this sentiment: “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.’”

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

— Sarah Bloom (@SarahR_Bloom) November 6, 2024

this is about to be the WORST 4 yrs for women i'm genuinely distraught

— heat ☠︎ (@HAHNSLUT) November 6, 2024

Amid these fears, other social media users have claimed Trump will not adopt the Heritage Foundation’s plan. 

“Still pushing this Project 2025 gimmick lmao y’all are not serious people,” a user commented, while another added, “Did you see when he said MULTIPLE times he does not endorse the 2025 plan?”

Did you see when he said MULTIPLE times he does not endorse the 2025 plan? Or did you choose to ignore it?

— Ron (@ronsayswhat) November 6, 2024

Trump himself addressed Project 2025 over the summer, distancing himself from the document, writing on Truth Social, “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.”

Despite these statements, Trump’s Agenda47 manifesto outlines similar plans, such as stricter immigration policies, curbing abortion rights, and implementing environmental deregulation. 

Agenda47 has contributed to the public’s concerns, with some seeing Project 2025 as a potential guide for Trump’s second term. 

As one commenter noted, “Scarily close to fiction becoming reality.”

Project 2025 details measures such as eliminating federal departments like Education and Justice, deporting undocumented immigrants, and increasing executive control over the federal workforce. 

The New York Times described it as a “conservative guidebook to expand presidential powers and overhaul the federal workforce so that it can be replaced with partisan loyalists.”

In response, the Heritage Foundation clarified that Project 2025 was not an official Trump administration blueprint, calling it “recommendations” for a conservative federal overhaul. 

Nevertheless, critics, including Democratic strategists, remain cautious. A spokesperson for Biden’s campaign previously remarked, “Donald Trump and his allies want to make him [a king] at our expense.”

As Trump’s supporters celebrate his victory, the specter of Project 2025 looms over national discourse, raising questions about the potential direction of U.S. governance and its impact on women’s rights, immigration, and federal structures.