Behind its trim green shutters and colonial-style facade, the Monocle Restaurant has for decades played host to the Washington DC elite. Signed pictures of presidents and senators who have lunched there adorn its walls. It is a short walk from Capitol Hill and the Heritage Foundation think-tank, the longtime crucible of adamantine rightwing ideas. If my guest is to be believed, it was here, over “sirloin steaks” with “a martini or two thrown in”, that he and other America First zealots drew up much of Project 2025, the blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term.
Paul Dans is arguably the most influential and revolutionary American whose name FT readers may not know. Some will think the words “radical”, if not “dangerous”, apply too. The corporate lawyer turned Maga activist served in Trump’s first administration, where he says he was infuriated by attempts by the “deep state” to block plans. After Trump’s defeat in November 2020’s election, he corralled soulmates from across America to craft a comeback agenda.
“I said we had to have a plan in place,” Dans says. “It would be a massive turning point, the end of the progressive era.”