President Donald Trump said Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the driving force behind renaming the U.S. Institute of Peace the “Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace,” in a move still being contested in courts.
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“Marco named it after me,” Trump said at the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace at the former USIP building. Trump said it was a surprise. Rubio is not known to have played a significant role in the renaming, although the State Department is the current custodian.
READ MORE: Trump added his name to the U.S. Institute of Peace building while fighting the organization in court
The USIP was created as an independent entity by Congress in 1984, a status Trump sought to revoke last year when the building was seized from its leadership and nearly all of its employees fired. The changes remain subject to litigation.
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