WATCH: Secret video: See what Trump ally said about Project 2025

0:00 | captured on

0:01 | of one of the architects of project 2025.

0:04 | He is also the policy

0:05 | director of the RNC team

0:07 | that rewrote the party’s

0:09 | official platform.

0:10 | In the secret video obtained by CNN.

0:12 | The RNC operative talks

0:14 | about his controversial

0:15 | conservative blueprint

0:17 | for a second Trump term

0:18 | and that Trump’s

0:19 | disavowal of project

0:21 | 2025 is just politics.

0:24 | Kyung lah, OutFront for us tonight.

0:28 | Our father, who art in heaven,

0:29 | hallowed be thy name.

0:31 | You are looking at

0:32 | secretly recorded video

0:34 | of Russell Vogt,

0:35 | a former cabinet member

0:36 | in the Trump administration.

0:38 | This year has been predominantly

0:40 | now getting ready for a year

0:43 | five of a Trump administration

0:45 | getting back 350

0:47 | different documents that are regulations

0:50 | and things of that nature.

0:51 | Vogt, the platform policy director

0:53 | for the Republican National Committee,

0:55 | says he is building the plan

0:56 | for Trump’s second term.

0:58 | I don’t know what the hell it is.

0:59 | It’s project 45.

1:01 | Trump publicly disavowed project 2025,

1:05 | a conservative blueprint

1:06 | for his administration

1:07 | if he gets reelected.

1:09 | But in private votes,

1:11 | that’s just politics.

1:12 | The details of the real plans

1:14 | are secret

1:15 | and based on Trump’s

1:16 | own beliefs notwithstanding.

1:19 | I expect to be here ten more times

1:21 | and rally the president, you know,

1:23 | distancing himself

1:24 | from the left’s boogeyman project 2025.

1:27 | Yeah.

1:29 | and you’re not worried about that?

1:30 | No, I’m not worried about it.

1:31 | And so I see

1:32 | what he’s doing is just very, very,

1:36 | conscious, distancing himself

1:38 | from my brand.

1:39 | He’s very supportive of what we do, and,

1:42 | and know that we have an all

1:44 | manner of things that we do that’s,

1:46 | you know, even unrelated to project 2025.

1:50 | Vogt has been a mastermind behind

1:52 | expanding the powers of the presidency.

1:54 | Some of those policy proposals

1:56 | Trump has supported.

1:57 | Sources tell CNN Trump

1:59 | even hosted a Mar-A-Lago

2:01 | fundraiser two years ago for the group

2:02 | vote, founded the right wing center

2:05 | for Renewing America.

2:06 | He’s been at our organization.

2:08 | He’s raised money for our organization.

2:09 | He’s blessed him in this hotel suite.

2:12 | Vogt thinks he’s talking

2:13 | to family members of a wealthy donor,

2:16 | but one is a journalist.

2:17 | The other an actor

2:18 | working undercover for the UK

2:20 | based center for Climate Reporting.

2:22 | The center provided the video

2:23 | to CNN on the condition

2:24 | we blur their faces

2:25 | so they can continue their undercover

2:27 | work.

2:28 | The conversation covers a host of issues

2:30 | like abortion

2:32 | and how his position differs from Trump.

2:34 | He talks about rape,

2:35 | incest and life of mother.

2:37 | I don’t actually

2:38 | believe in those exceptions.

2:40 | I want to get to abolition.

2:42 | But I also we gotta win elections.

2:45 | And so

2:46 | I want to get as far as we possibly can.

2:50 | His view of who should be an American.

2:53 | So I want to make sure that we can say

2:56 | we’re a Christian nation.

2:58 | And my viewpoint is mostly

2:59 | that I would probably be

3:00 | Christian nation ism.

3:02 | That’s pretty close to

3:03 | Christian nationalism.

3:04 | Can we

3:05 | if we’re going to have legal immigration,

3:07 | can we get people that actually believing

3:09 | in Christianity?

3:10 | Is that something or do we have to have,

3:12 | you know,

3:14 | we’re not allowed to have ask questions

3:16 | about Sharia law.

3:17 | What could we see America looking like?

3:18 | I guess

3:19 | I mean, I do well, in an ideal world.

3:21 | I mean, I think we’ve we

3:23 | we could save the country in a sense of,

3:27 | you know, the largest deportation

3:29 | in history and even pornography.

3:31 | We have a national ban

3:32 | on pornography for good, right.

3:34 | But the most striking of vote statements

3:36 | has to do with presidential power.

3:38 | George Floyd

3:39 | obviously was not about race.

3:41 | It was about,

3:42 | destabilizing the Trump administration.

3:45 | Right?

3:46 | It’s the left’s

3:47 | belief that structures in society,

3:50 | are the problem pulling society down

3:54 | for purposes of revolution

3:56 | is exactly what they want.

3:58 | and what you’re seeing at college

4:01 | campuses is a part of that as well.

4:02 | The president has,

4:04 | you know, the ability both

4:06 | along the border,

4:08 | and elsewhere to maintain law

4:09 | and order with the military.

4:11 | A major part of the plan

4:12 | is turning

4:13 | thousands of career federal jobs

4:14 | into political appointments,

4:16 | meaning workers could be fired

4:18 | if they’re not sufficiently loyal

4:20 | 80% of my time is working on the plans

4:24 | of what’s necessary

4:25 | to take control of these bureaucracies.

4:29 | who crushes the deep state.

4:31 | I think there’s a lot of different ways

4:32 | to do that.

4:33 | It is

4:35 | defunding it.

4:36 | It’s empowerment,

4:38 | the ability to not spend money.

4:39 | It’s getting rid of their independence.

4:41 | Even as vote talks

4:43 | about the so-called deep state.

4:45 | He claims

4:46 | his group is forming its own

4:48 | to take over on day one.

4:50 | We are trying to create a shadow,

4:54 | Office of Management and Budget,

4:55 | a shadow National Security Council

4:57 | and a shadow Office of Legal Counsel.

5:00 | These are the main organs in government

5:02 | that you need outside

5:03 | to create the battle plan.

5:04 | And you’re not going to publish those?

5:06 | No, no, they go straight to him.

5:08 | Yeah. They’re very, very close on.

5:13 | Wow.

5:14 | Kim.

5:15 | have vote or Donald Trump responded

5:18 | to all that was said on this video.

5:21 | Well, we are Sarah, beginning to hear

5:23 | from both the Trump campaign

5:25 | and Russell Votes organization.

5:26 | In response

5:27 | to this video,

5:28 | a spokesperson

5:29 | for votes Group is downplaying

5:31 | the video, saying

5:32 | vote has spoken

5:33 | about these same topics

5:35 | publicly, telling

5:36 | CNN in a statement, quote,

5:38 | thank you for airing

5:39 | our perfect conversation, emphasizing

5:41 | our policy work is totally separate

5:43 | from the Trump campaign,

5:45 | and the Trump campaign

5:46 | tells us only President Trump

5:47 | and the campaign

5:48 | represent policies for the second term.

5:52 | we’re going to lead

5:53 | Greatrillioneporting Kyung Lah,

5:55 | thank you so much. Appreciate it.

WATCH: Secret video: See what Trump ally said about Project 2025

Video Summary

Secret video: See what Trump ally said about Project 2025 Transcript

Author

More Videos

WATCH: Trump’s Second Term: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

WATCH: Why you’re hearing a lot about Project 2025

WATCH: How Project 2025 Could Dismantle American Democracy

WATCH: What is Project 2025?

WATCH: Trump Is Project 2025 | Robert Reich