One official in President Donald Trump's administration just got a new job heading up a congressionally funded organization that Trump previously tried to eliminate.
According to a Friday report in Politico, Darren Beattie — who is currently the acting undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs in the U.S. State Department — has been named as the acting president of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). Beattie was a speechwriter in Trump's first administration who was eventually fired after speaking at a white nationalist conference.
In a statement, the State Department said that Beattie will be serving a dual role in the administration, maintaining his role at the State Department while also heading the USIP. The Department stated that it "look[s] forward to seeing [Beattie] advance President Trump’s America First agenda in this new role."
In 2016, Beattie spoke at the H.L. Mencken Club's annual conference (named for the late 19th and early 20th century writer who harbored racist views and railed against democracy) alongside white nationalist activist Peter Brimelow. Brimelow is the founder of the website VDare, which has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. And in 2024, he posted to social media: "competent white men must be in charge if you want things to work."
Beattie's initial hiring at the State Department alarmed multiple lawmakers. In March, 44 Democratic members of the House of Representatives co-signed a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio urging him to fire Beattie, saying his "racist" viewpoints made him "actively dangerous." They cited examples of him heaping praise on China's and Russia's authoritarian governments as "superior to American democracy," and lauded Xi Jinping's regime as one that doesn't "coddle violent third world trash."
Similar to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (which Trump also recently defunded with the help of Republicans in Congress), the USIP is an independent organization that receives congressional appropriations. According to its 2023 IRS form, Its most recent president was paid more than $365,000 in total annual compensation. Assuming Beattie is keeping his State Department undersecretary salary of roughly $165,000, he could be reaping a taxpayer-funded salary in excess of $500,000 per year.
Earlier this year, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) attempted to zero out the USIP's budget and seize its building. However, a federal judge in May ordered all of the USIP's assets be returned to the organization, ruling that DOGE's actions were illegal. Established in 1984 by the late former President Ronald Reagan, the USIP is dedicated to training people in diplomacy and mediation to de-escalate international conflict. Its 15-member board includes the secretaries of state and defense as well as the president of the National Defense University. The other remaining 12 board members are presidential appointees confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Read Politico's full report by clicking here (subscription required).