Who Will Help Shape Trump’s Policy Agenda? Here Are The Key Groups And Players

Topline

Conservative activists and Trump loyalists from right-wing nonprofits are expected to have former President Donald Trump’s ear as he heads back to the White House, as groups like America First Policy Institute and their leaders are reportedly already helping to shape the president-elect’s policy agenda—though it’s unclear how much of a role Project 2025 will play.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at an election night watch party on Nov. 6 in West Palm Beach, … [+] Fla.

Key Facts

Trump is reportedly working with close allies to prepare “aggressive” policies he can launch as soon as he’s inaugurated, Politico reports, including leaders from right-wing organizations who are more closely aligned with the ex-president and his views than the comparatively traditional establishment Republicans Trump relied on at the start of his first presidency.

The only appointee Trump has formally named so far for his second administration is Trump campaign manager Susie Wiles, who will be his Chief of Staff.

America First: Right-wing think tank America First Policy Institute is reportedly the main group behind Trump’s transition plans, drafting potential executive actions Trump can take and meeting with lobbyists, with an anonymous source telling Politico before the election that the Trump transition effort and America First “may be a distinction without a difference.”

The organization is chaired by former Small Business Administration leader Linda McMahon, whom Trump has also tapped to co-chair his formal transition effort, and is led by Brooke Rollins, who directed the Domestic Policy Counsel during Trump’s first term and was reportedly a contender for Trump’s Chief of Staff, with Politico saying ahead of the election that if Trump won, Rollins would “immediately become one of the most powerful conservatives in the country.”

America First is also staffed with numerous other Trump allies and former Trump administration figures whom Politico and the Wall Street Journal report have been in direct contact with the Trump campaign about policy, including former White House advisor Kellyanne Conway, economic advisor Larry Kudlow, former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, former national security adviser to Mike Pence Keith Kellogg, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker.

The Center for Renewing America: Trump’s former head of the Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought was also mentioned before the election as a potential chief of staff pick—even as Trump has disavowed policy agenda Project 2025, which Vought is involved with—and ProPublica reported Vought gave private speeches as the head of right-wing group Center for Renewing America in which he detailed plans to gut the ranks of career civil servants by making it so hard to work they’ll be “in trauma,” and use the Insurrection Act to deploy the military against protesters.

Vought’s Center for Renewing America also lists Mark Paoletta as a senior fellow, as the attorney—a close friend of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas who also represents Thomas’ wife Ginni—is reportedly helping Trump craft policies for the Justice Department.

Former DOJ attorney Jeffrey Clark is also expected to advise Trump on legal issues, the Washington Post reports, as Clark serves as the Center for Renewing America’s director of litigation despite being indicted in Georgia for helping Trump try to overturn the 2020 election and facing the possibility of his law license being suspended (he has pleaded not guilty).

Mike Davis: Founder of right-wing judicial activist group The Article III Project, Davis has been floated as a potential attorney general pick in Trump’s second term and an advisor on Trump’s legal policy and judicial picks, as the former Senate aide has become an outspoken supporter of the ex-president online and made frequent appearances on right-wing media like Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast.

Stephen Miller: One of the best-known advisors from Trump’s first term, Miller is expected to return to the second Trump White House and has already been reportedly helping with Trump’s immigration agenda, after the advisor set up nonprofit legal group America First Legal during the Biden administration.

What About Project 2025?

Project 2025 has been the most prominent work by conservatives on policy plans for a second Trump presidency, as the Heritage Foundation and other right-wing groups authored a 900-page policy agenda proposing a broad overhaul of the executive branch. While Trump disavowed the project and distanced himself from its extreme proposals ahead of the election, the ex-president still has numerous ties to the Heritage Foundation, and it’s unclear if it will end up ultimately wielding any influence in his second term. Right-wing media personalities like podcaster Matt Walsh and YouTuber Benny Johnson tweeted after the election in favor of Project 2025, with Johnson writing, “It is my honor to inform you all that Project 2025 was real the whole time.” It’s also unclear if reported plans to ban some Project 2025 staffers from joining the second Trump administration will hold, as Politico reported Thursday that some in Trump’s circle are “peeved” about transition co-chair Howard Lutnick’s plans to follow through with the blacklist. The Heritage Foundation declined to comment to Forbes on whether it has any involvement in Trump’s transition effort, and the Trump campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment.

Trump’s Billionaire Backers

Outside of the nonprofit circuit, Trump’s agenda is also expected to get help from a coterie of billionaire supporters—namely Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who became one of the ex-president’s biggest champions before Election Day and has pressured Trump to create an “office of government efficiency” that his businesses would benefit from. Trump has suggested he could give Musk a role within his administration, suggesting making him the “secretary of cost-cutting,” and the billionaire reportedly joined Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday. Other billionaires expected to hold sway with Trump on policy include investor John Paulson, who told The Journal ahead of election night that he wanted to work with Musk on enacting spending cuts; Jeff Yass, who holds a $21.5 billion stake in TikTok parent ByteDance and reportedly lobbied Trump to oppose a TikTok ban; former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, whom the ex-president has said will be a part of his second administration, and oil tycoon Harold Hamm, who Politico reports is playing a “leading role” in helping craft Trump’s energy policy. Other billionaire Trump donors who haven’t signaled major policy goals but could still influence him include Mellon heir Timothy Mellon, tech investor Marc Andreessen, Wall Street investor Carl Icahn, Marvel Entertainment head Isaac Perlmutter and casino owner Phil Ruffin—only a few of the more than 50 billionaires who backed Trump before Election Day.

Other Trump Policy Influencers

A number of other officials have been mentioned as influencing Trump on policy who aren’t part of the conservative nonprofit ecosystem or among his biggest financial backers. Former Trump speechwriter Vince Haley—whom Axios describes as a Miller protégé—was directing Trump’s policy efforts as of Dec. 2023, the Journal reported, with Politico reporting in November he’s now helping craft Trump’s economic policy and prepare an “aggressive trade agenda” for Trump’s first 100 days in office. Hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, who advised Trump on the economy and poured $3 million into his campaign, also told Forbes right before the election that he “would like to be” involved with a second Trump White House, “either from the inside or the outside.” Others who have been mentioned as helping Trump’s policy efforts include former Council of Economic Advisors chair Kevin Hassett, Border Patrol union chief Brandon Judd, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tom Homan, former Special Envoy to Iran Brian Hook and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic who ran as an Independent before suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump, is also expected to play a key role at Trump’s health agency, suggesting he wants to remove fluoride from water and “get toxins out of our food.”

What Policies Will They Propose?

Trump’s plan to implement tariffs on imported goods is “the most important part of the policy planning for the second administration,” an anonymous source told Politico ahead of the election, projecting the tariff proposal is going to be “defining for the second Trump administration.” While it’s unclear what their exact proposed executive actions for Trump say, America First’s policy agenda on its website includes a number of other policies that are in line with Trump and other Republicans’ views, such as lowering corporate tax rates, protecting “religious freedom,” increasing domestic oil and gas production, getting rid of climate change efforts, opposing policies supporting transgender rights, opposing any gun control measures, imposing work requirements for Medicaid recipients, curbing immigration and reducing America’s role in assisting with international conflicts. It also calls for defunding Planned Parenthood, but does not propose a national abortion ban or rescinding approval for abortion drug mifepristone. Miller is reportedly “driving” the incoming Trump administration’s immigration policies, the Washington Post reports, as the Trump advisor has helped push the ex-president’s plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Anonymous Trump allies told Politico ahead of the election that Trump’s Justice Department is also expected to much more aggressively follow his agenda than it did in Trump’s first term—including the former president’s vows to get retribution against his political enemies—as the ex-president plans to put an emphasis on staffing the agency with loyalists. “Loyalty is the most important thing [in a second Trump term],” one source told Politico. “Competency is probably second.” Trump’s immediate policy priorities on “day one” of his presidency are set to include enacting strict immigration measures, ramping up oil and gas drilling, helping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Iran, his advisors have suggested.

Contra

One group that reportedly won’t be as involved with the second Trump administration is the Federalist Society, the powerful group of conservative judges that helped Trump with his judicial nominees and Supreme Court picks during his first term. Trump’s reported planned reliance on Davis, Clark and Paoletta comes after the former president reportedly had a falling out with the more establishment Federalist Society, the Washington Post reported in February, including judicial activist Leonard Leo, who’s at the center of a web of “dark money” nonprofits that have helped install conservative judges.

News Peg

Trump was projected as the winner of the presidential election early Wednesday morning, officially setting into motion his transition efforts as the former president prepares to retake the White House on Jan. 20. Trump’s team will have to staff approximately 4,000 positions with political appointees, according to the Associated Press, as well as prepare Trump’s initial Cabinet members and the administration’s first policy proposals. America First was formed in 2021 and began its policy work for a second Trump term then, Politico reports, though its reportedly key role in Trump’s transition effort was only first noted by the press in August.