The United States Institute of Peace (or USIP) has been renamed in honour of President Donald Trump, the State Department has said, ahead of peace agreement signing ceremony between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
"This morning, the State Department renamed the former Institute of Peace to reflect the greatest dealmaker in our nation's history. Welcome to the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace. The best is yet to come," the department said.
The post included a picture of the USIP building, showing Trump's full name added on a wall above the engraved name of the organisation.
In February, Trump issued an executive order seeking to dismantle USIP.
The organisation's president was removed from its headquarters by law enforcement, and the administration fired nearly all of its Washington-based staff, US media reported.
USIP was created in 1984 by former president Ronald Reagan. Funded by Congress, it is an independent non-profit organisation aimed at preventing and resolving international conflicts.
Under previous presidents it had functioned not unlike a think-tank, employing academics, researchers and experts on international affairs.
Kagame and Tshisekedi to meet in renamed building
On Thursday, Trump is scheduled to attend the signing of a peace agreement between DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame.
Trump hopes the agreement will pave the way for the United States to gain access to critical minerals in the eastern DRC, a violence-torn region home to many of the key ingredients in modern technologies such as electric cars.
Kagame, the longtime president of Rwanda — whose M23 rebel allies have taken a decisive edge on the ground against its turbulent neighbour — will meet Congolese President Tshisekedi in the newly renamed Donald J. Trump US Institute of Peace.
The White House said that the two leaders would sign a peace agreement, more than five months after the countries' foreign ministers also met Trump and announced another deal to end the conflict.
Trump has made no secret of his view of himself as a "peacemaker," as well as his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
He has repeatedly claimed to have solved eight conflicts since returning to office in January, including Pakistan and India, insisting his interventions "saved tens of millions of lives".
Pakistan, Cambodia and Israel nominated Trump for 2025 Nobel Prize while Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly signalled their support for a nomination after a White House summit.
