How "Project Esther" forecast Trump's plan to silence protests, boost deportations
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The Trump administration's push to cast pro-Palestinian protesters as Hamas supporters — and then use anti-terror and immigration laws to quiet campus demonstrations — was forecast in a little-known plan last year from the creators of Project 2025.
Why it matters: That plan — dubbed "Project Esther" and based on months of chatter among some GOP leaders — was reflected in the White House's moves to arrest Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil and pull universities' funding over antisemitism allegations.
- The administration's strategy is to eventually ask the Supreme Court to give President Trump more power to deport immigrants with fewer judicial restraints.
Zoom in: Project Esther was quietly unveiled just before the presidential election, on the one-year anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel on Oct.7, 2023.
- It was produced by the Heritage Foundation, the conservative group behind Project 2025, and took aim at what it called antisemitism on college campuses.
- Like Project 2025, Esther envisions expanding executive power and reshaping American life with a conservative agenda — this time focusing on colleges and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- And like Project 2025, Esther and the Trump administration's moves that mirror much of it are sounding alarms among progressives who say the effort promotes censorship, unfairly labels protesters as terror supporters and is a tool of Christian nationalism.
The Project Esther document argues that the U.S. is experiencing a "virulently anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and anti-American 'pro-Palestinian movement'" that supports Hamas.
- There were antisemitic episodes on some campuses during last year's protests. But many protesters — including Khalil, an Algerian citizen who's a legal resident of the U.S. — say they support Palestinian rights but not Hamas or terrorism. They also note that some Jewish students joined the protests.
Zoom out: Project Esther suggests public firings of pro-Palestinian professors on campuses and using anti-racketeering laws to break up pro-Palestinian or liberal-leaning groups.
- It calls for a "propaganda purge" from classes, labeling pro-Palestinian members of Congress as Hamas supporters, targeting progressive student organizations, and using anti-Israeli remarks as a reason to deport student visa and green-card holders.
- The document lays out how to fight antisemitism from the left but says nothing about antisemitism from the right.
The Heritage Foundation did not respond to a request for comment from Axios.
The intrigue: President Trump appears to have adopted many of the suggestions in Project Esther. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is citing a rarely used provision in U.S. law to try to remove legal residents for their pro-Palestinian speech.
- Harrison Fields, the White House's principal deputy press secretary, wouldn't say whether Trump has seen or is using Project Esther — but said Trump would "hold accountable those who perpetrate violence against Jewish people."
- "It's always been a core principle of President Trump, his administration, and the Republican Party to combat antisemitism, stand with Israel, and revoke visas of foreign nationals who support terrorism and jihadism," Fields said.
What they're saying: The administration's moves on immigration aren't just a plan to fight antisemitism, they're an extremist agenda on free speech and immigration, said Bradley B. Onishi, author of "Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — and What Comes Next," tells.
- "It comes right from the playbook of the right-wing think tank that is trying to impose its Christian nationalist vision on the entire government," Onishi said.
- "We do not and will not accept the claim that the right-wing Christian Heritage Project represents us. As Jews, we advocate for ourselves," Jewish Voice for Peace said in a statement in response to Project Esther.
