Trump Administration Fights to Carve Name Into USIP Headquarters

Former board members and staff of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) filed an emergency motion in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Thursday to block the Trump administration from permanently carving President Donald Trump's name into the headquarters' facade. Petitioners argue that the permanent engraving would cause irreparable harm to the congressionally chartered nonprofit's independent mission.

This legal challenge follows a December action where the administration added removable silver lettering to the building and renamed the organization the Donald J. Trump United States Institute of Peace. Ousted leadership alleges a contractor has already been selected for the permanent carving because the administration is dissatisfied with the impermanence of the current signage.

The dispute is part of a broader effort by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to shrink the government, which included seizing the USIP headquarters and firing staff. While a federal judge previously ruled the takeover illegal, the judgment is currently stayed pending appeal. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the renaming, characterizing the original institute as a bloated entity.

Similar conflicts have emerged regarding the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. After a court blocked his name from being added to that building, President Trump announced the center would close, claiming the facility is in dangerous shape and would be ripped down without his intervention.