The State Department added President Donald Trump’s name to the U.S. Institute of Peace building Wednesday morning, nearly nine months after the administration purged the institution’s staff and board.
Federal officials installed signage reading “Donald J. Trump” on the Foggy Bottom building in multiple locations directly above the institute’s former name before the president held a signing ceremony for a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Former USIP employees, including GW professors, say the move — coming after the Department of Government Efficiency took control of the building in March and fired most of its staff — could signal Trump’s increased interest in its work.
“Now, the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, which is both beautifully and aptly named after a President who ended eight wars in less than a year, will stand as a powerful reminder of what strong leadership can accomplish for global stability,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said in a statement to The Hatchet. “Congratulations, world!”
The Trump administration has faced ongoing legal battles with USIP leadership over who controls the building. In February, Trump issued an executive order seeking to dismantle the institute — founded in 1984 by President Ronald Reagan — but a federal judge blocked the order in May, allowing USIP leadership to regain control of the building. The D.C. Circuit Appeals court then reversed that decision in June, with a final decision pending in federal court. The State Department currently controls the building.
“The United States Institute of Peace was once a bloated, useless entity that blew $50 million per year while delivering no peace,” Kelly said.
School of Media & Public Affairs Director Peter Loge, who served as vice president for external relations for USIP from 2013 and 2015, said the name change is less important than whether the institute continues to address and prevent global conflicts.
“Created by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Reagan, USIP is a testament to the United States’ commitment to peace,” Loge said in an email. “Hopefully that work can continue, regardless of what the organization doing that work is called.”
Matthew Levinger, a professor of practice of international affairs and former senior program officer at USIP, said Trump’s interest in the institute is a positive development, and he hopes it will translate into Congress and the former president providing USIP with greater funding and resources.
He said regardless of whether Trump or the USIP leadership succeed in the courts, USIP’s negotiators and conflict resolution experts will remain a vital resource to American national security.
“Congress and the Trump administration should unite to make USIP the centerpiece of American efforts on behalf of international peace,” Levinger said in an email.
George Foote, an attorney representing former USIP leadership and staff, said renaming the institute after Trump “adds insult to injury.” He said the action was only possible because the appeals court paused the District Court’s ruling, which shifted control of the building away from USIP leadership once again.
“The rightful owners will ultimately prevail and will restore the U.S. Institute of Peace and the building to their statutory purposes,” Foote said in an email.
Trump terminated all presidentially appointed members of the board in March, leaving three ex-officio members: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Defense University President Peter Garvin. The board members then fired the president and chief executive officer of the institute.
Trump also floated eliminating the institute in 2017 — a proposal both the House and Senate rejected.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) said Thursday on the floor of the House Trump’s move to first dismantle and then rename the Institute are illegal.
“Today, I’ve learned that President Trump has had his name, in massive letters, put over the Peace Institute, calling it the Donald J. Trump Peace Institute, none of which is legal,” Cohen said. “Will his ego stop staining this city?”
The USIP website — once hosting a plethora of publicly available foreign policy analysis — has been wiped bare, containing a single page with four sentences — three of which describe Thursday’s peace deal, one directing viewers to check back for updates and a video of Trump signing the DRC-Congo agreement. A banner visible on the browser tab indicates the site is under maintenance.
