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US Institute of Peace was officially renamed to Donald J. Trump Institute of Peacemarking the latest step in the president's months-long effort to dismantle the agency created by Congress.
The name change comes after a tumultuous year for the organization, which the Trump administration sought to shut down while transferring its powers to Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE).
The institute challenged the move in federal court, but layoffs continued after Court of Appeal upheld a lower court decision that temporarily blocked the administration's plan.
The agency's website went offline briefly Wednesday morning and then returned with an advertisement for Trump's upcoming ceremony to negotiate a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
President Donald Trump's name was recently placed on the exterior of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) headquarters building on Wednesday in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
White House Spokeswoman Anna Kelly supported the renaming, telling Fox News Digital that the former institute was “a bloated, useless organization that wasted $50 million a year without bringing peace.”
“Now the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, which is beautifully and aptly named after a president who ended eight wars in less than a yearwill be a powerful reminder of what strong leadership can achieve for global stability,” Kelly said.
She added that Trump “ended eight wars in less than a year,” citing the institute's new name as recognition of his “peace through strength” approach.
“Congratulations, world!” – Kelly said.
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President Donald Trump's name can be seen on the US Institute of Peace headquarters building in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Secretary Marco Rubio echoed this sentiment in response to the ad.
“President Trump will go down in history as the President of the World,” Rubio wrote. “The time has come for our State Department show it.”
The United States Institute of Peace was created by Congress in 1984 as a nonpartisan organization supporting efforts to prevent conflict and build peace abroad. The dismantling and rebranding as an organization named Trump represents one of the biggest agency overhauls of Trump's second term.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends the signing ceremony for the peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo at the State Department on June 27, 2025 in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the administration's shutdown measures were unlawful. But the decision was upheld on appeal, paving the way for the firing in July as the administration restructured the agency and continued to move functions elsewhere.
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The institute did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on the rebranding or the status of the ongoing lawsuit.
The State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
