“Founded in 2021 by former Trump administration officials Linda McMahon, Larry Kudlow, and Brooke Rollins, AFPI has positioned itself as a formidable rival to the long-established Heritage Foundation, creating a notable divide in conservative policymaking spheres,” GPAHE explained. “This conflict stems from both ideological differences and personal rivalries.”
So far, AFPI, a nonprofit that does not disclose its donors and cannot endorse political candidates, “has sought to avoid public attention—or the kind of firestorm that has engulfed the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025,” Politico reported Thursday. However, like the widely known initiative, the more covert one has clear ties to Trump.
AFPI is “filled with Trump loyalists and insiders” and “was blessed by Trump before it was founded in 2021,” according to Politico. While the think tank said in a statement that it “does not speak on behalf of any officeholder or campaign,” the outlet pointed out that “Trump has hosted fundraisers for AFPI at his Mar-a-Lago club, his PAC Save America donated to the group, and his first major speech in Washington since leaving the White House was at an AFPI event.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_First_Policy_Institute
Meet the think tank planning a second Trump administration. (It’s not Project 2025.)
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/29/trump-transition-plan-afpi-00176674
Lobbyists have taken note and are directing their clients to meet with AFPI or suggesting policy. The think tank has an emphasis on deregulating the federal government and limiting its reach. It has been “drinking from the fire hose,” said one lobbyist who has been asked to advise AFPI and emphasized that the think tank sat “in the driver seat on transition.” (Like most others interviewed for this article, the lobbyist was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive dynamics in Trump’s orbit.)