Washington DC - Cost-slashers of President Donald Trump and his billionaire friend Elon Musk seized control Monday of the US Institute of Peace, ousting the leader of the taxpayer-funded center for conflict resolution.

The non-violent show of resistance befitting the institution was one of the most dramatic showdowns by Trump as he tears through norms in his push to pare down Washington and implement his "America First" agenda.

Trump last month issued an order that the US Institute of Peace – signed into being by president Ronald Reagan in 1984 with a mission to help the US prevent and resolve international conflicts – be "eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law."

The institute said it was complying with Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and presented evidence it was cost-effective.

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It noted that the institute owns its building, a modern structure next to the State Department with sweeping views of the National Mall, and that its $55 million annual budget comes directly from Congress.

The DOGE team was not convinced and on Monday attempted to enter the building, leading the institute to refuse before issuing a statement in the name of its acting president George Moose: "DOGE has broken into our building."

The Trump administration announced that it had fired all members of the institute's bipartisan board except three, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

In a statement on institute stationery dated Friday and posted on X by DOGE, the new board said it had voted to remove Moose, a veteran former ambassador.

DOGE said Moose "denied lawful access" to the institute's new president, who was escorted in by Washington police.

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"It's not a happy day for anybody that somehow this misunderstanding of our intent, our purpose, has reached a point where folks are going to come and try to shut us down," Moose told reporters after he was removed.

The newly named president was Kenneth Jackson, a former State Department official. He was involved in the gutting of the US Agency for International Development.

Rubio canceled more than 80% of US development assistance, with Trump mocking aid as a waste of taxpayer money.

Since his return to the White House, Trump and Musk have moved to destroy entire government agencies, meeting court challenges as Congress constitutionally allocates funds.

Trump has been undeterred and over the weekend moved to axe decades of US-funded international broadcasting, including Voice of America.