Project 2025 co-author Russ Vought is the power behind Trump presidency

He is the director of the Office of Management and Budget and is fully committed to a radical overhaul of the way the US presidency works

Russell Vought has vowed to 'be the person that crushes the deep state', and was part of the first Trump administration, where he held the position of OMB deputy director — and, briefly, director. File picture: Jacquelyn Martin/ AP

While Elon Musk has clearly been a major influence on the Trump administration, the less well known, but arguably more influential, power behind the presidency is Russell (usually Russ) Vought. 

Vought is the director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) — the nerve centre of the administration’s sweeping changes.