Former Institute of Peace board members ask court to stop addition of Trump name to headquarters

Former board members for the U.S. Institute of Peace asked a federal court on Thursday to block the Trump administration from etching President Trump’s name into the facade of the institute’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.

In an emergency petition filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, lawyers for the former institute leadership alleged the administration “now intends to carve” Trump’s name into the building.

“The threatened carving would impose serious irreparable harm,” the attorneys wrote in their filing. “It is a discrete act that can and should be forestalled through a limited, status-quo-preserving modification of the stay pending appeal.”

The president’s name was already added to the building’s exterior in removable silver lettering in December. The institute’s name is carved into the facade.

The White House did not confirm or deny these alleged engraving plans when reached for comment on Friday.

“The United States Institute of Peace was once a bloated, useless entity that blew $50 million per year while delivering no peace,” spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.

“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,” she continued. “Frivolous litigation to stymie these efforts should be rejected.”

The institute was one of the many organizations targeted for cuts by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — an effort that sparked an ongoing legal battle.

Congress created the institute in 1984 and allocates federal funding for its programs. The institute’s headquarters building was built using a mix of private donations and federal money.

“The building — which was largely funded by private donations to USIP as a tax exempt nonprofit corporation — is a work of expressive architecture designed to be ‘symbolic of USIP’s’ independent ‘mission,’” the attorneys wrote in their filing.

The president has sought to affix his name to several other historic buildings and monuments around the nation’s capital.

Trump’s efforts to take over the Kennedy Center have been subjected to ongoing litigation after he fired half of the performing arts center’s board, named himself as its new chair and pushed to add his name to the side of the iconic building.

After a federal judge blocked this renaming effort on Tuesday, the president announced that the Kennedy Center would be closing “so that it can begin the process of Reconstruction.”