WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s name has been added to the sign on the U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters in downtown D.C., above the existing building title.
The Department of State’s X account shared a photo of the new facade on Wednesday in a post that called Trump “the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history,” an apparent reference to his work to end multiple conflicts around the world.
“President Trump will be remembered by history as the President of Peace. It’s time our State Department display that,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said about the name-change on X.
The agency has been embroiled in a legal battle over whether the Trump administration and the Department of Efficiency operation, then led by Elon Musk, had the power to dismantle it earlier this year. Most of the independent non-partisan institution’s staff were let go in March.
The institute was established by Congress in 1984 with the mission to promote peace internationally and resolve violent conflicts globally. The research arm of Congress notes the agency has served “as an intermediary among foreign governments, civil society, and U.S. government officials” and “worked in conflict zones with national, regional, and community level stakeholders to connect top-down and bottom-up initiatives.”
Trump will participate in a signing ceremony at the newly renamed building Thursday to mark a peace agreement between the presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo after hosting them at the White House. Trump had also hosted them for a peace deal signing in June.
The president has repeatedly touted his role during his second term in helping to resolve multiple conflicts, arguing it should earn him the Nobel Peace Prize.
In June, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit paused U.S. district court judge’s decision that had blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the institute while litigation moved forward.
“The President faces irreparable harm from not being able to fully exercise his executive powers,” the appeals court panel wrote. The judges added, “Because the Institute exercises substantial executive power, the Government is likely to succeed on its claim that the Board’s removal protections are unconstitutional.”
An appeals court hearing on the merits of the issue that was scheduled for this month was postponed. The Institute of Peace building, meanwhile, has been transferred out of its board’s hands to the General Services Administration, which manages federal buildings.
An attorney for former leaders and staff of the institute denounced the Trump administration’s move to name the agency after the president in a statement Wednesday.
“Renaming the USIP building adds insult to injury,” said the lawyer, George Foote. “A federal judge has already ruled that the government’s armed takeover was illegal. That judgment is stayed while the government appeals, which is the only reason the government continues to control the building. The rightful owners will ultimately prevail and will restore the U.S. Institute of Peace and the building to their statutory purposes.”
Abigail Brubaker contributed.