Trump campaign pushes back on ‘speculative and theoretical’ reports about second-term plans

Top Trump campaign advisers Monday sought to tamp down a spate of reporting about possible second-term policy and personnel plans that former President Trump would implement if he wins reelection next November.

The statement from Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita appeared to be addressing reports from The New York Times and Washington Post about Trump’s plans for a second term. 

“The efforts by various non-profit groups are certainly appreciated and can be enormously helpful,” Wiles and LaCivita said. “However, none of these groups or individuals speak for President Trump or his campaign. We will have an official transition effort to be announced at a later date.” 

“Therefore, these reports about personnel and policies that are specific to a second Trump Administration are purely speculative and theoretical,” they added. “Any personnel lists, policy agendas, or government plans published anywhere are merely suggestions.”

The Times has in recent weeks laid out Trump’s sweeping plans for cracking down on immigration and the likelihood that he will install attorneys who won’t hold up his proposals. The Post, meanwhile, has reported how Trump and his allies could use the government to go after his enemies.

The stories have cited various outside conservative groups and former Trump White House officials, including Stephen Miller, Russ Vought and officials affiliated with “Project 2025,” an effort affiliated with The Heritage Foundation designed to identify potential staffers for the next GOP administration.

Wiles and LaCivita on Monday said the increasing number of stories about potential plans for Trump’s second term are “neither appropriate nor constructive.”

“President Trump and his campaign are singularly focused on beating Joe Biden and achieving victory next November,” they said. “While we understand fully the value of planning a transition back to the Oval Office, these press reports are largely unfounded and an unnecessary distraction from the work we are doing to defeat the most corrupt and incompetent president in what is the most consequential election in the history of our country.”

Trump and his campaign have proposed a plethora of policies as part of his 2024 campaign for the White House. The former president has said he would implement “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” and has called for drug traffickers to receive the death penalty.

He has in recent days suggested it would be fair game for his administration to target a political opponent, citing his multiple indictments during a Democratic administration.

And Trump has said he would reimpose an expanded version of his travel ban that applied to several Muslim-majority countries and would implement ideological screenings for those coming into the United States.

Trump is dominating the Republican presidential primary, leading by nearly 60 percentage points over his next nearest challenger in an average of national polls. He is also leading by double digits in nearly every state-level poll.