New GOP platform reflects Trump’s dramatic reshaping of the party

“MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” headlines the 2024 Republican Party platform. 

Indeed, it reflects former President Donald Trump’s vision for the country, according to Trump campaign advisers, as well as the extent to which he has reshaped the party since its last platform was released in 2016. 

The platform includes far fewer specifics and policy details than in the past. It reiterates many of Mr. Trump’s campaign promises –  including building an Iron Dome missile defense system over the United States, and implementing “THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY.” It also promises to hold government officials accountable for alleged abuses of power, such as “illegal censoring” of lawful speech or “unjustly” prosecuting political opponents.

Delegates to the Republican National Convention, which kicks off Monday in Milwaukee, are expected to adopt the new platform and formally choose Mr. Trump as the GOP presidential nominee. 

What is the purpose of a party platform? 

A party platform is a document that outlines what a political party believes on key issues – essentially a party’s “mission statement.” It is typically written by major party figures as well as representatives from interest groups.

Russell Vought, who headed up the Office of Management and Budget during the Trump administration, is the policy director for the Republican National Committee platform committee. Mr. Vought is also one of the authors of Project 2025, a sweeping presidential transition plan created by the Heritage Foundation that offers a road map for an incoming conservative administration, although Mr. Trump has recently sought to distance himself from it.

Party platforms have been a regular feature of campaigns since 1840, when then-President Martin Van Buren outlined nine major Democratic Party positions in about 500 words. Modern-day platforms are far more complex, running up to 75 pages long. They include a preamble that lays out how the party sees the state of the country and the problems that must be addressed, as well as goals it seeks to achieve on different issues.  

Typically, both parties draft updated platforms during presidential election years, and delegates vote to adopt the platform at their nominating convention. Presidential candidates are not bound to follow it. However, a platform is usually a good indicator of how a party hopes to govern.

How does the 2024 platform reflect Mr. Trump’s influence? 

Since 2016 the Republican Party has been moving away from its Ronald Reagan-era conservative roots, reshaping itself along the lines of Mr. Trump’s “America First” populism. The new platform shows just how deep an imprint he has made, from shifting policy priorities to adopting his signature and unusual use of capitalization. 

The 2016 platform – which was used again in 2020 – more closely resembled the GOP’s traditional conservative vision. This year’s platform is significantly shorter – 16 pages, compared with 66 – and dedicated to “the Forgotten Men and Women of America.” It appears to be aimed at regular voters, not policy wonks. 

In many ways, the platform reads more as an extension of Mr. Trump’s campaign than as a detailed description of party policy priorities. The preamble begins, “America First.” Mr. Trump is referenced by name 19 times. 

By contrast, Mr. Trump was not referenced at all in the 2016 platform. And he was mentioned just three times in a 2020 resolution to forgo developing a new platform that year, though it pledged to “enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda.”

This year’s platform dedicates a section to culture war issues like “gender ideology” and critical race theory. Other issues it prioritizes include election security and energy production. It puts the most focus on border security, promising to place the U.S. military on the southern border and to enact stricter vetting processes and “keep foreign Christian-hating Communists, Marxists, and Socialists out of America.” 

That’s a sharp difference in tone from the 2016 platform, which also called for improved border security, but sought to strike an inclusive note. “Our party is the natural home for those who come in search of freedom and justice,” began the section on immigration.  “We welcome all to the Great Opportunity Party.”

What are the biggest policy changes?

One long-standing campaign issue for Republicans is almost entirely absent from this year’s platform: fortifying Second Amendment rights.

While the 2016 platform dedicated a three-paragraph section, and included references elsewhere to Second Amendment protections, the 2024 platform has only a passing promise to defend “THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS.”

And for the first time in four decades, the Republican platform doesn’t include a call for a national abortion ban. It commends the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 for giving the power to ban abortion “to the States.” But the word “abortion” appears only one time, compared with 35 times in the 2016 platform. The document also affirms support for access to birth control and in vitro fertilization (IVF), the latter of which was recently formally opposed by the Southern Baptist Convention.

Parts of the platform have drawn criticism from evangelical Christians, including Mr. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, who called the change in abortion policy “a profound disappointment.”

In addition, the GOP’s long-held priorities of reducing entitlement spending and reining in the national debt aren’t discussed. The word “debt” doesn’t appear anywhere in the document, and “deficit” appears only once, in reference to the trade deficit. There is, however, a promise to “immediately stabilize the Economy by slashing wasteful Government spending and promoting Economic Growth.”

Meanwhile, several sections address “Gender Insanity,” “Gender Indoctrination,” and “GENDER IDEOLOGY.” The word “gender” did not appear once in 2016.

References to foreign policy are mostly broad, such as promising that “Republicans will end the global chaos and restore Peace” and counter China. Russia and Ukraine are not named. The 2016 platform, by contrast, dedicated pages to specific and nuanced foreign policy positions.

Marjorie Hershey, a political science professor at Indiana University, calls the 2024 GOP platform “a series of outtakes from Trump’s rally speeches.”

Not all Republicans are happy with the changes. But the RNC’s support for Mr. Trump’s policies seems to signal that the party has indeed gotten on board. Many members who were once strong critics have urged the party to coalesce behind him. 

“Trump has completely taken control of the party,” says Dr. Hershey.