As attendees of the peace deal signing between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo entered the U.S. Institute of Peace on Thursday, they may have noticed new signage on the Washington, D.C., building, which was officially erected in 2011.
President Donald Trump‘s name is now adorned in several places at the Institute of Peace headquarters, most notably above the front entrance.
Trump acknowledged the cosmetic change on Thursday before he and African leaders signed the Washington Accords, intended to end the more than 30-year deadly conflict between Rwanda and the DRC.
“Boy, that is beautiful,” said Trump, who thanked his Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, for the name change, which was authorized by Rubio at the U.S. Department of State.
Trump’s name was plastered on the building on Wednesday morning, according to the State Department.
Democrats and human rights advocates slammed the move, pointing to President Trump’s threat to bomb other nations like Venezuela and boat strikes in the Caribbean Sea.
Ironically, in February, Trump signed an executive order seeking to dismantle the U.S. Institute of Peace and moved to fire its leadership and staff, a move that is pending in federal court.
“It is perhaps ironic that President Trump has put his name on an institution that he has rendered prostrate. What is even more puzzling is that this comes just days before the planned signing of a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Christopher Shell, a fellow at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told theGrio.
The U.S. Institute of Peace was established by Congress in 1984, but its headquarters did not break ground until 2008. A bipartisan board of directors originally governed the institute with 15 members, including the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, and the President of the National Defense University. The remaining 12 members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Shell told theGrio that the move to rename the Institute after Trump is “difficult to interpret,” explaining, “At the very moment Trump has fashioned himself as the broker ending major conflicts in Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa, yet he appears to be escalating tensions in Latin America and the Caribbean through maritime strikes — while leaving it unclear whether he intends to remove Venezuela’s Maduro by force.”
The foreign policy expert continued, “Embedded within these contradictions is a subtle admission that Trump’s version of ‘peacemaking’ – or rather, ‘dealmaking’ – will differ dramatically across regions, and that what counts as ‘peace’ under his administration will depend heavily on geopolitical context.”
The decision to name the U.S. Institute of Peace after Trump comes after Trump was passed over for a Nobel Peace Prize in October. Trump and his allies made it no secret that they believed the president was deserving of the international recognition for his role in brokering several peace deals around the world, including the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after a years-long conflict that left more than 72,000 Palestinians dead.
Trump has repeatedly referenced his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, arguing that America’s first Black president did not deserve his 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
“They gave it to Obama for doing absolutely nothing but destroying our country,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Oct 9.
“He is consistently invoking the National Guard unnecessarily. You don’t ever deserve to win a Nobel Peace Prize when you are promoting hate and fear,” former Obama White House aide Michael Blake previously told theGrio, referring to Trump.
“It’s no surprise at all why Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize and Trump continues to be in envy.”
