Summary
President Donald Trump plans to install a statue of Christopher Columbus in the White House gardens, according to The Washington Post. The initiative is part of remodeling plans for the presidential complex and aims to publicly vindicate Columbus’s figure, despite protests that toppled and submerged his statue in Baltimore’s harbor in 2020. The new statue will be constructed based on a damaged original from Reagan’s presidency and was originally planned to be installed near E Street, north of the Ellipse area. Bill Martin, an Italian-American businessman involved in recovering and restoring the sculpture, stated that it would be transported for delivery to Trump in the coming weeks. This gesture is seen as part of the broader context of restituting historical monuments removed during protests following the 2020 events. The installation of the statue aligns with Trump’s political discourse defending Columbus Day, which he reasserted by signing a presidential proclamation in October 2021 describing Columbus as “the original American hero” and reaffirming its official commemoration.
Key Topics
Donald Trump, Christopher Columbus, Indigenous Peoples’ Day
