Donald Trumps won the election, and Republicans now dare to openly admit that Project 2025 was the plan all along.

The draconian policy package that The Heritage Foundation had prepared in preparation for a second Trump administration was so extremist that the former president went to great lengths to publicly distance himself from the project in the final months of the campaign. Its content, which includes a broad expansion of executive powers; a de facto national abortion ban, stricter restrictions on contraception; cruel policies against undocumented migrants; and the elimination of several federal agencies (including the Department of Education) did not go down well with potential voters.

Trump feigned ignorance of the plan despite his close ties to those involved in drafting it, while Democrats went out of their way to warn about the conservative blueprint for a second Trump term.

Sure enough, less than 24 hours after the election was called for Trump, his allies, advisors and prominent supporters were celebrating the now-open road to implementing Project 2025.

On Wednesday, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon — who just weeks ago served a four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress — praised Christian nationalist Matt Walsh, a commentator for The Daily Wire, on his War room broadcast.

Walsh had written on X, formerly Twitter: “Now that the election is over, I think we can finally say that Project 2025 is indeed the agenda. Lol”

“Matt Walsh, I think, is a very smart and funny guy,” Bannon said. “Put that everywhere,” he added, with instructions for his staff to promote the post on his social media.

In a separate post, Bo French, chairman of the Tarrant County GOP, wrote: “Can we now admit that we are going to implement Project 2025?”

Regardless of whether Trump explicitly endorses Project 2025 as a guideline for his second administration, the overlap in its proposals, personnel and goals means the two are inextricably linked. Republicans simply don’t have to pretend anymore.