> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.europeans.today/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Trump megadonor Tim Dunn has a plan more extreme than Project 2025 - URL: https://www.europeans.today/2024/10/30/trump-megadonor-tim-dunn-has-a-plan-more-extreme-than-project-2025/ - Published: 2024-10-30T01:05:00.000Z - Updated: 2024-10-31T00:29:03.000Z - Description: The Texas fracking billionaire wants to rewrite the U.S. Constitution to advance climate denial and other far-right priorities. - Author: DeSmog - Tags: 2024 US Presidential Election, Donald Trump, Far-Right, Heritage Foundation, MAGA, Trump Campaign, Tim Dunn, Project 2025, Climate Denial, Climate Change Deniers, JD Vance, Oil And Gas Lobbyists, Libertarianism, Economic Libertarianism, Libertarian-Right, Libertarians, United States, US Politics --- #### by [GEOFF DEMBICKI —](https://www.desmog.com/user/geoff-dembicki/?ref=europeans.today) ###### Investigative climate journalist based in New York City. Author of [The Petroleum Papers](https://amzn.to/4f4825m?ref=europeans.today) and [Are We Screwed?](https://amzn.to/4f6faOs?ref=europeans.today) **TL;DR | Highlights from this story** ● Tim Dunn, Texas billionaire and pastor, is a significant Donald Trump donor supporting a conservative, Christian-nationalist vision aimed at reconfiguring U.S. governance. ● Through his nonprofit, Convention of States, Dunn advocates rewriting the Constitution to restrict federal authority, especially over environmental regulations and fossil fuel industries. ● Backed by influential conservative figures, this movement seeks a national impact, advancing religious and corporate interests while downplaying climate change concerns. ● With support from key GOP figures, Dunn’s extensive donations position him to potentially shape policy should Trump win the presidency, aligning his business and political objectives. F or months top Democrats have fixated on Project 2025, the radical blueprint of policy and personnel recommendations for a Donald Trump administration published by [The Heritage Foundation](https://www.desmog.com/heritage-foundation/?ref=europeans.today) and its allies, with Kamala Harris’ campaign [calling it](https://kamalaharris.com/project2025/?ref=europeans.today) “a sweeping takeover of the federal government.” But one of Trump’s most prominent donors, the Texas fracking billionaire and pastor Tim Dunn, has for years been backing what [critics refer to](https://act.faithfulamerica.org/sign/convention-of-states/?ref=europeans.today) as a conservative Christian Nationalist plan for America. Some experts in right-wing politics think it has the potential to be more extreme than [Project 2025](https://www.desmog.com/2024/08/14/project-2025-billionaire-donor-heritage-foundation-donald-trump-jd-vance-charles-koch-peter-coors/?ref=europeans.today). Dunn is [among the top 10](https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2024?cmte=C00825851&tab=donors&ref=europeans.today) individual donors to the Trump campaign, having contributed **$5 million** through his fracking company CrownQuest Operating to a Super PAC called Make America Great Again. He is [also director](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/472245708/202323119349300022/full?ref=europeans.today) of a political nonprofit known as the Convention of States, which is leading an effort to rewrite the U.S. Constitution in ways [that it says](https://conventionofstates.com/?ref=europeans.today) would “limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government.” The Bible, [according to](https://conventionofstates.com/news/what-does-the-bible-have-to-do-with-politics?ref=europeans.today) Dunn, “should profoundly affect” politics. The group [has the backing of](https://conventionofstates.com/?ref=europeans.today) conservative media superstars including *Fox News* anchor Sean Hannity and *Daily Wire* co-founder Ben Shapiro; religious right leaders such as Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Wallbuilders founder David Barton; political operatives like [Vivek Ramaswamy](https://www.desmog.com/vivek-ramaswamy/?ref=europeans.today) and [Turning Point USA](https://www.desmog.com/turning-point-usa/?ref=europeans.today) founder [Charlie Kirk](https://www.desmog.com/charlie-kirk/?ref=europeans.today); Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Republican Congressmember Rand Paul; and the Heritage Foundation’s Kevin Roberts, one of the lead architects of Project 2025\. Among the Convention of States’ [priorities](https://conventionofstates.com/news/american-energy-hope-vs-fear?ref=europeans.today) is to “resist top down planning by our federal government” when it comes to limiting the fossil fuels at the heart of the climate emergency. It describes global heating as a “hoax,” [erroneously](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac2774/meta?ref=europeans.today) stating on its website that “the claim that 97% of scientists agree that climate change is man-made is patently false.” Dismissal of the climate emergency is also central to Project 2025, which calls for a Republican administration to aggressively [advance climate obstruction](https://www.desmog.com/2024/10/07/key-donald-trump-ally-robert-wilkie-tells-heritage-foundation-project-2025-event-president-will-kill-climate-budgets/?ref=europeans.today) along with a cavalcade of other conservative policies, [including a national ban](https://nwlc.org/understanding-project-2025s-radical-anti-abortion-policies/?ref=europeans.today) on medication abortion. Project 2025’s proponents would do so by taking a “dictatorial view of the presidential powers,” explained Peter Montgomery, research director at the progressive nonprofit organization People for the American Way. They’re advising Trump to [replace](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/25/project-2025-trump-plan-fire-civil-service-employees?ref=europeans.today) thousands of career government employees with political appointees and concentrate decision-making power in the White House. But Dunn’s plan for a theocratic petrostate goes one step further. “The Convention of States wants to put that vision into the Constitution,” Montgomery told *DeSmog*. As unlikely as that scenario might seem, he argues that this project goes far beyond mere political rhetoric or posturing. Dunn has [a long track record](https://www.propublica.org/article/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-texas-christian-nationalism-dominionism-elections-voting?ref=europeans.today) of successfully backing far-right policies and state representatives in his home state of Texas. He and his allies are now [reportedly looking](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/tim-dunn-texas-oil-billionaire-trump-donor-1235033143/?ref=europeans.today) to take that strategy national. “They’re spending a lot of money organizing in states and they’ve got a long-term plan,” Montgomery claimed. “They are deadly serious.” *DeSmog* sent a list of questions to the Convention of States and to Dunn via his nonprofit Citizens for Self-Governance but didn’t receive a response. ### **‘Politics and religion’** Dunn is currently one of the richest people in Texas, having amassed [a net worth of **$2.2 billion**](https://www.forbes.com/profile/timothy-dunn/?ref=europeans.today) through his family fracking company CrownQuest, which pumps **140,000** barrels of oil per day from the Permian basin in West Texas. In addition to running one of the country’s biggest privately-owned oil companies, Dunn is a pastor in Midland, the Texas oil town where he lives along with five of his six grown children [on a **20-acre** compound](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/jul/11/tim-dunn-texas-oil-billionaire-trump?ref=europeans.today). He believes that “politics and religion are inseparable,” [telling](https://conventionofstates.com/videos/tim-dunn-the-political-mission-of-the-biblical-narrative?ref=europeans.today) a Convention of States gathering in 2022 that “you can’t have one without the other.” Dunn and his wife [have reportedly given](https://www.propublica.org/article/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-texas-christian-nationalism-dominionism-elections-voting?ref=europeans.today) **$29 million** since 2000 to conservative candidates and PACs in Texas, making him one of the state’s top political donors. He works closely with Farris Wilks, a fellow Texas fracking billionaire [who is a co-owner](https://www.desmog.com/2024/09/09/inside-the-anti-climate-culture-war-led-by-jordan-peterson-and-project-2025/?ref=europeans.today) of *The Daily Wire*, the right-wing media outlet whose stars include [Jordan Peterson](https://www.desmog.com/jordan-peterson/?ref=europeans.today) and Ben Shapiro. Dunn and Wilks [recently put **$6.8 million**](https://www.propublica.org/article/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-texas-christian-nationalism-dominionism-elections-voting?ref=europeans.today) into a new PAC called Texans United for a Conservative Majority, whose logo depicts Austin’s Capitol building with a Christian cross on top. Though Dunn’s political base is in Texas, he’s involved with groups that have a national focus. Tax forms show that for over two decades he’s been on the board of a conservative think tank called the [Texas Public Policy Foundation](https://www.desmog.com/texas-public-policy-foundation/?ref=europeans.today), which has received millions of dollars from charities linked to the [Koch brothers](https://www.desmog.com/koch-family-foundations/?ref=europeans.today) and as recently as 2015 was disputing whether humans cause climate change. And in 2015, the Convention of States [filed its first tax form](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display%5F990/472245708/2015%5F12%5FEO%2F47-2245708%5F990EO%5F201412?ref=europeans.today) with Dunn listed as a board member. A key goal is to make the U.S. a more explicitly Christian nation. “When we started the Convention of States — and I was there at the beginning — I knew we had to have a spiritual revival, a Great Awakening and a political restoration for our country to come back to its roots,” Dunn [said while addressing](https://www.propublica.org/article/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-texas-christian-nationalism-dominionism-elections-voting?ref=europeans.today) a summit for the group. The Convention of States pushes a conservative economic agenda, [advocating against](https://conventionofstates.com/news/10-000-regulations?ref=europeans.today) the thousands of regulations created by an “out-of-control Washington.” The group wants to remove “federal interference” from the oil and gas industry, [claiming that](https://conventionofstates.com/news/american-energy-hope-vs-fear?ref=europeans.today) fracking “can only be a good thing for our living conditions and geopolitical considerations” and arguing that any attempt to ban fossil fuels “is both impossible to achieve and dangerous to attempt.” This fusion of religion and economic libertarianism “is supported by people on the corporate right, and people on the Christian right,” Montgomery said. It aims to impose that agenda on Americans by altering the country’s foundational documents. “They are very committed to rewriting the U.S. Constitution,” he said. ### **Allies in the Trump Campaign** The process by which Dunn and his allies hope to do that is called [an Article V convention](https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42589/15?ref=europeans.today). Their goal is to convince 34 U.S. state legislatures to pass resolutions supporting a constitutional convention. That is the threshold required for Congress to take up the matter. If 38 states then approve the proposed amendment, it becomes part of the Constitution. Numerous groups since the 1960s have mounted Article V campaigns on issues including abortion bans and federal fiscal restrictions, yet [none have been successful](https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R42589/15?ref=europeans.today). The Convention of States [claims to be working](https://conventionofstates.com/nevada-lieutenant-governor-stavros-anthony-endorses-convention-of-states?ref=europeans.today) “across every legislative district in the nation,” saying that 19 states “have successfully passed the Convention of States Resolution.” The group gained a powerful potential supporter this summer when Trump named as his running mate Ohio Senator [JD Vance](https://www.desmog.com/jd-vance/?ref=europeans.today), a [major recipient of oil and gas donations](https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2023/09/05/jd-vance-is-one-of-the-top-recipients-of-oil-and-gas-money-now-hes-shilling-for-their-interests/?ref=europeans.today) who [previously endorsed](https://conventionofstates.com/trump-announces-cos-supporter-j-d-vance-as-vp?ref=europeans.today) the project. “Super excited we have a vice presidential candidate that is an official supporter of the Convention of States,” the group’s president Mark Meckler [said in a video](https://conventionofstates.com/videos/vice-presidential-nominee-supports-convention-of-states-cos-now-2024-ep26?ref=europeans.today) in July. Dunn himself is attempting to make inroads with powerful Republicans. He’s [given **$250,000**](https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/donor%5Fdetail/2024?id=U0000004031&name=Dunn%2C+Tim&super%5Fonly=S&type=I&ref=europeans.today) to High Plains PAC, which is supporting the re-election of Senator John Borrasso in Wyoming, currently the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Dunn’s poured **$2 million** into the Jefferson Rising Fund, which [is supporting](https://www.opensecrets.org/outside-spending/detail/2024?cmte=C00769232&tab=targeted%5Fcandidates&ref=europeans.today) the Senate bid of Trump ally Kari Lake in Arizona and advocating against Democratic Senate contenders in states such as Wisconsin, Montana, and Nevada. The Texas fracking billionaire has become a central behind-the-scenes figure in a constellation of Trump-aligned nonprofits. Dunn is [on the board of directors](https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/854202763/202333189349314408/full?ref=europeans.today) of the America First Policy Institute. That group is co-sponsoring the Courage Tour led by Christian right influencer and Trump ally Lance Wallnau, which [is holding a series of rallies](https://www.propublica.org/article/vance-ziklag-courage-tour-christian-right-tax-election-laws?ref=europeans.today) in swing states. The Courage Tour recently partnered for an event with vice presidential candidate Vance. Dunn is reportedly [a significant funder](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/tim-dunn-texas-oil-billionaire-trump-donor-1235033143/?ref=europeans.today) of the conservative nonprofit Center for Renewing America, [as well as](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/07/22/inside-the-trump-plan-for-2025?ref=europeans.today) the Conservative Partnership Institute. All this could help give Dunn policy leverage should Trump win the presidential election. “He’s definitely seeking a national impact,” Montgomery said. A second Trump administration could be useful to Dunn’s business interests. He signed a deal late last year to sell a major part of his fracking company CrownQuest to Occidental Petroleum for **$12.4 billion**, a transaction in [which he’s set to personally](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-11/occidental-s-crownrock-deal-to-reap-billions-for-texas-conservative-tim-dunn?ref=europeans.today) collect another **$2.2 billion**. Less than a month later, Dunn donated **$5 million** to Trump. Occidental CEO Vicki Hollub complained last spring during a Houston fundraiser with Trump that federal regulators were delaying the sale. According to sources [quoted in the *Washington Post*](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/05/31/trump-oil-mergers-occidental-crownrock/?ref=europeans.today), Trump voiced his dismay, saying, “Can you just wait a few months?” ![PUBLIC SQUARE UK](https://storage.ghost.io/c/15/40/1540bec0-7154-4feb-b8e1-97f579155b08/content/images/2021/09/end-flat-1.png "PUBLIC SQUARE UK") ### **GOING FURTHER** - ###### [A Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built the Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas. That’s Just the Start](https://www.propublica.org/article/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-texas-christian-nationalism-dominionism-elections-voting?ref=europeans.today) | PROPUBLICA - ###### [Here Are Trump’s Top Billionaire Donors](https://www.forbes.com/sites/leokamin/2024/08/14/here-are-trumps-top-billionaire-donors/?ref=europeans.today) | FORBES - ###### [Meet Tim Dunn: the ultraconservative billionaire pastor spending millions to protect his oil – and elect Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2024/jul/11/tim-dunn-texas-oil-billionaire-trump?ref=europeans.today) | THE GUARDIAN - ###### [This top Trump donor wants more than rule rollbacks](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/power-switch/2024/07/09/this-top-trump-donor-wants-more-than-rule-rollbacks-00167107?ref=europeans.today) | POLITICO ### --- ### **Sources:** ##### ▪ This piece was first published in [DeSmog](https://www.desmog.com/2024/10/23/trump-project-2025-tim-dunn-crownquest-convention-states/?ref=europeans.today) and re-published in PUBLIC SQUARE UK on 30 October 2024 under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. | The author writes in a personal capacity. ##### ▪ **Cover:** Flickr/[Gage Skidmore](https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/53953171740/?ref=europeans.today). (Licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=europeans.today).) ![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png "Cover photograph license") ---