A new book by Kevin Roberts, the president of the far-right Heritage Foundation and chief architect of Project 2025—a controversial policy framework for a second Donald Trump term—has stirred debate with its repeated use of violent, incendiary imagery, particularly invoking fire and burning to describe his vision for reshaping America. The book, titled Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America, will be released next week, but has already drawn sharp criticism for its radical language and proposals.
Roberts, whose work on Project 2025 includes purging the federal government of perceived political enemies, calls for a “long, controlled burn” of institutions he deems hostile to conservative values, including the FBI, Ivy League colleges, the New York Times, the Boy Scouts of America, and even major corporate entities like BlackRock. These targets reflect Roberts’ broader goal of dismantling what he sees as entrenched elites and their ideological strongholds.
The book’s fiery rhetoric is not new, as Roberts has long advocated for aggressive political change. In his introduction, Roberts channels the epic words of Virgil’s Aeneid, declaring, “My spirit kindles to fire, and rises in wrath to avenge my dying land,” and links his call for “fire with fire” to the nationwide protests in 2020 over the police killing of George Floyd, which he controversially claims caused over a billion dollars in damage.
For Roberts, the solution is not reform but destruction. He argues that America’s institutions—like “deadwood” in a forest—must be “burned” to the ground, paving the way for new structures to emerge. His target list includes high-profile names and organizations across various sectors, from education to government to business. He explicitly advocates for dismantling influential bodies such as the FBI, the New York Times, and even BlackRock, the financial giant with connections to Trump’s own media company.
Roberts justifies this rhetoric with references to nature and history. Citing the necessity of controlled burns in forest management, he compares his political vision to ecological renewal, claiming that “fire is an intrinsic part of the cycle of life.” He compares progressive policies to diseases that must be “promptly burned,” and argues that the only way to revive America’s institutions, which he describes as “haggard with age, decay, and bloat,” is to eliminate them entirely.
The book has already drawn attention for its violent language, with some commentators accusing Roberts of advocating for political purges and scorched-earth tactics against institutions that oppose his vision. This echoes the broader goals of Project 2025, which includes purging the federal government of civil servants deemed disloyal to conservative ideals and limiting the power of institutions like the media and academia.
While Roberts’ rhetoric may resonate with far-right conservatives seeking to overhaul American political and cultural life, it has raised alarms among progressives and moderates, especially in light of the upcoming presidential administration under Trump. The book’s fiery language and explicit calls for institutional destruction only serve to intensify the polarized political climate in the U.S.
As Roberts prepares to release Dawn’s Early Light, the political implications of his words and the goals of Project 2025 will likely continue to dominate discourse, especially as Trump, fresh off his election victory, may adopt some of these ideas as part of his second term agenda. Whether Roberts’ vision of a “controlled burn” will be embraced or rejected remains to be seen, but the rhetoric and the stakes could signal a dramatic shift in the nation’s political landscape.