Trump administration promotes official with history of antisemitic ties to lead U.S. peace efforts
The earlier appointment of Darren Beattie, who is Jewish, to the state department drew concern from Jewish groups over ties to far-right individuals and white nationalist rhetoric
Photo by Gage Skidmore
By Jacob Kornbluh July 27, 2025
The Trump administration promoted a top State Department official previously fired during President Donald Trump’s first term for speaking at a white nationalist conference to lead a congressionally funded agency focused on promoting diplomatic solutions to global conflicts. His appointment as acting president of the U.S. Institute of Peace, is part of the administration’s broader effort to reshape federal diplomacy programs.
Darren Beattie, who is Jewish, faced scrutiny in February when he was first appointed as undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs over his past participation at events organized by antisemites and white supremacists. He was also accused of promoting the antisemitic “Great Replacement” theory.
The Anti-Defamation League called him unqualified for serving in a role representing American values abroad. “I consider it an honor to be attacked by the far-left ADL,” he said at the time.
In February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Beattie’s appointment was temporary until a formal nominee was named. “In the meantime, he’s someone who was brought on because he’s strongly committed to ending the censorship programs that had been operating within the State Department, which can no longer continue and will not continue,” Rubio told reporters at the time.
In March, 44 House Democrats called on Rubio to remove Beattie.
Months later, Beattie remains in the position and is expected to continue in that role while also being president of the institute — a position he was appointed to by the group’s board of directors, which includes Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Beattie’s public career and past comments
In 2018, Beattie was fired from his position as a speechwriter at the White House after it was reported that he was listed as a speaker at the 2016 H.L. Mencken Club Conference, a convention popular with white nationalists and named after the early 20th century journalist whose posthumously published diary revealed racist and antisemitic views.
Beattie later went to work for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican of Florida, whose years in the House were marked by allegations of sexual misconduct and accusations of trafficking in antisemitism.
In 2020, Trump appointed Beattie to the Commission for the Preservation of American Heritage Abroad, dedicated to maintaining sites across Eastern Europe connected to the Nazi Germany-led extermination of six million Jews during the Holocaust. He was fired by the Biden administration in 2022 along with six other Trump appointees.
Beattie founded Revolver News, a right-wing media outlet, which has, among other things, promoted conspiracy theories related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol.
Beattie’s Ph.D. thesis, focused on the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, a former member of the Nazi Party. Beattie acknowledged Heidegger’s Nazi affiliation as “highly troublesome” but maintained that his philosophy remained worthy of study. Beattie also suggested that George Soros, the Holocaust survivor and billionaire Democratic donor who has long been the target of antisemitic tropes, was behind attempts to remove Trump from office in 2020.
