The Trump administration has renamed the U.S. Institute of Peace after President Donald Trump and placed his name on the organization’s Washington headquarters, despite an ongoing legal fight over control of the congressionally created institute. The move comes as the building prepares to host a peace agreement signing between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
The U.S. Institute of Peace is an independent, congressionally created nonprofit national institute that focuses on promoting peace and resolving conflicts around the world. It was established by legislation passed in the 1980s and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan in 1984–85.
Funded by Congress, the institute has operated in multiple conflict zones, including in Africa and Asia, and functions as a think tank and training center for peacebuilding and conflict resolution. It has been a target this year of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a Trump administration entity that moved to slash its operations and take control of its headquarters.
In March 2025, the Trump administration removed most of the institute’s board and leadership and DOGE officials entered the headquarters, transferring control of the building to the General Services Administration, according to court filings and news reports. A federal district court judge later ruled the takeover illegal, but that ruling was put on hold while the government appealed, allowing the administration to maintain control of the building during the ongoing litigation.
On Wednesday, December 3, 2025, the State Department announced that the organization had been renamed the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, saying in a public statement that the change was meant to “reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history.” The new name now appears on the facade of the headquarters near the State Department.
The State Department and administration allies have framed the rebranding as recognition of Trump’s peace efforts. A State Department post on X promoted the building as the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace” and described Trump as the “greatest dealmaker in our nation’s history.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio has separately said Trump will be remembered as a “President of Peace,” though independent analysts note that many of the administration’s claims about ending multiple wars are disputed and not supported by outside data.
George Foote, a lawyer representing former U.S. Institute of Peace leadership, said the renaming “adds insult to injury,” noting that a federal judge has found the administration’s takeover unlawful, even though that decision is stayed pending appeal. Because of that stay, practical control of the headquarters remains with the federal government while the case proceeds in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The institute and its former leaders argue that, as a congressionally created and funded entity, it is intended to operate with statutory independence from direct presidential control. The Trump administration, however, has contended in court that the institute exercises significant executive authority in foreign policy and therefore must be subject to presidential direction.
The renamed headquarters is scheduled to host Thursday’s signing of a peace agreement between Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, with additional dignitaries and observers expected from the African Union and several regional governments, including Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda and others, according to officials involved in the planning. Coverage by outlets including the Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times has described the event as part of a broader U.S.-brokered effort aimed at easing tensions between the two countries and securing access to critical minerals.
The institute’s website has continued to use its original United States Institute of Peace name and branding while noting the planned Rwanda–Congo peace agreement at the Washington headquarters and highlighting Trump’s prominent role in the ceremony. The juxtaposition of the longstanding congressional mandate for an independent peace institute and the Trump administration’s highly personalized rebranding has intensified political and legal tensions around the future of the organization.
