Court panel halts permanent Trump lettering on Institute of Peace building

An appeals panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an emergency order preventing the administration from permanently carving Donald Trump's name into the U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters. The injunction came at the request of the institute's ousted board members, who argued that such a carving would cause irreparable harm if they later regain control. The three-judge panel was split, with Judge Karen Henderson dissenting and the other two judges imposing the temporary block.

The dispute is part of a larger legal battle that began after a 2025 executive order reduced the institute's operations and led to a contested takeover deemed unlawful by a district judge. While the large silver letters installed last December can still be removed, any permanent alteration to the façade is now on hold pending further arguments scheduled for November.