Trump Installs Christopher Columbus Statue on White House Grounds

President Donald Trump has installed a statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus on the White House grounds, a replica of one that was thrown into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor by protesters in 2020.

The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations said in a March 22 statement that the statue was placed on the north side of the Eisenhower Executive Office building, which is adjacent to the White House, “in celebration of Italian American history and culture.”

The coalition said the 13-foot replica was constructed in part using pieces of the shattered statue retrieved from the Baltimore harbor.

The original statue was torn down by protesters in Baltimore amid protests in 2020 sparked by the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis that year.

Basil Russo, president of the national coalition, reached out to the Trump administration after Baltimore officials refused to install the new statue in public, according to the statement.

“Columbus statues have long stood as symbols of pride and cultural identity for more than 18 million Americans of Italian descent,” Russo said. “For over a century, Columbus’s legacy helped Italian immigrants navigate prejudice and hardship, serving as a source of unity and belonging as they built new lives in this country.”

White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the administration is proud to honor the explorer’s “legendary life and legacy with a well-deserved statue” on the White House grounds.

“In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he’s honored as such for generations to come,” Ingle said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

In a March 22 letter to Russo, Trump thanked the coalition for “gifting” the statue to the federal government, while describing Columbus as the “original American hero” and “one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the Earth.”

“As you know, the statue you generously gifted is an exact replica of the Columbus statue that stood for more than three decades in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland—from when it was first dedicated by President Ronald Reagan in October 1984 until it was torn down by anti-American rioters and thrown into the harbor on July 4, 2020. I am truly honored that this magnificent statue will now sit on the grounds of the White House,” the president wrote.

Trump signed a proclamation in October 2025 recognizing Oct. 13 as Columbus Day, marking a shift from President Joe Biden’s practice since 2021 of observing both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the same date.

In his proclamation, Trump hailed Columbus—whose 1492 expedition from Spain reached the Caribbean and marked the beginning of sustained European exploration and colonization of the Americas—as “a giant of Western civilization.”

The president also denounced those whom he called “left-wing radicals” attempting to “erase our history” and “attack our heritage” by toppling Columbus statues and tarnishing the explorer’s character.

The proclamation follows his Truth Social post earlier that year in which he vowed to commemorate Columbus Day “under the same rules, dates, and locations, as it has had for all of the many decades before.”

“I’m bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes,” Trump stated. “They tore down his Statues, and put up nothing but ‘WOKE,’ or even worse, nothing at all! Well, you’ll be happy to know, Christopher is going to make a major comeback.”