The U.S. Institute of Peace building’s new namesake oddly belongs to the person who has been calling the Department of Defense the Department of War.
The State Department on Wednesday revealed new, non-matching lettering on the exterior of the Washington, D.C. building. It now reads: “Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace.”
“This morning, the State Department renamed the former Institute of Peace to reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history,” the State Department’s X account wrote. “Welcome to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. The best is yet to come.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio added similarly: “President Trump will be remembered by history as the President of Peace. It’s time our State Department display that.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
The institute is among the several organizations that have been in Trump’s crosshairs since January. Earlier this year, he issued an executive order calling for the independent, congressionally funded institute to reduce its “statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”
After firings, court battles, and a tense standoff against the FBI and Metropolitan Police at the behest of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the extent of current operations at the institute isn’t immediately clear. Its website has no contact information and no explanatory information other than one sentence: “The United States Institute of Peace is the nation’s independent, nonpartisan institute that supports the Executive Branch in resolving violent conflict abroad.”
On Tuesday, Trump, 79, is scheduled to be at the venue to host a peace agreement signing ceremony between the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Those countries’ long-running dispute is included in the number of wars Trump has claimed to have facilitated an end to; last month, he pegged it at nine.
Trump, who made his pre-political career out of slapping his last name on everything from skyscrapers to steak, may not make the peace institute the last Capitol-area structure to bear his name.
The president has said he wants the same deal for the new stadium where the NFL’s Washington Commanders will play. He is also reportedly planning on naming the forthcoming White House ballroom after himself, and in August flirted on social media with the “Trump/Kennedy Center,” another venue he has overhauled to his whims.
In the meantime, frequent Trump foe Gavin Newsom wasted little time mocking the name change.
Trump’s self-serving overhaul makes as little sense as a “KFC Institute for Veganism,” the California governor’s press office wrote on X.
“The United States Institute of Peace was once a bloated, useless entity that blew $50 million per year while delivering no peace,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said. “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. Congratulations, world!”
