Controversial Trump official appointed US Institute of Peace chief
A senior State Department official with a history of incendiary comments and who was fired as a speechwriter during President Trump’s first term has been appointed as acting leader of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP).
Darren Beattie, the senior official in public diplomacy, was appointed acting head of the USIP, an independent, nonprofit think tank funded by Congress to promote peace and prevent and end conflicts across the globe.
Beattie’s appointment by the nonprofit’s board appears to be the Trump administration’s latest step in an effort to bring the USIP fully under the executive branch and the administration’s goal to shut down the agency. Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) put the USIP in its crosshairs for termination, prompting a tense standoff occurred at the USIP’s headquarters, where police were called.
The future of the USIP is the subject of litigation after the Trump administration fired USIP President George Moose and replaced the board of directors. In June, a federal appeals court lifted a lower court’s ruling that blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the USIP. The lower court’s ruling was issued on May 19.
Beattie’s position as a “senior bureau official” served to avoid the Senate confirmation process. He was fired during Trump’s first term after CNN reported he delivered a speech to a conference with white nationalists in 2016. Beattie told CNN at the time he stood by his speech and that it contained nothing objectionable.
Following his termination, Beattie reportedly founded a right-wing media outlet that promoted conspiracies about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Beattie also taught political theory at Duke University and Humboldt University in Berlin, according to his profile with the State Department.
Beattie’s appointment was first reported Friday by Mike Benz, executive director of the Foundation For Freedom Online.
A senior State Department official confirmed Beattie’s appointment by the USIP board of directors, which include Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. The official said that Beattie will continue to serve in his role at the State Department and as acting president of the USIP.
“The USIP Board of Directors has appointed Darren Beattie as Acting President of the United States Institute of Peace, and we look forward to seeing him advance President Trump’s America First agenda in this new role,” the official said.
George Foote, counsel for the USIP, said Beattie’s appointment is “illegal under [U.S. District Judge Beryl] Howell’s May 19 decision.”
“We are committed to defending that decision against the government’s appeal,” Foote said in a statement.
“We are confident that we will succeed on the merits of our case, and we look forward to USIP resuming its essential work in Washington, D.C. and in conflict zones around the world.”
Updated at 11:29 a.m. EDT