A statue of the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus has been placed near the White House as part of a broader initiative supported by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The statue is located on the north side of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building within the White House complex. In a letter addressed to a conference of major Italian-American organizations, Trump thanked the group for the donation.
The move is part of a wider campaign against what Trump has described as “anti-American ideology,” which includes restoring Confederate monuments and revisiting changes to exhibits related to slavery—efforts that civil rights advocates warn could reverse decades of social progress.
Statues of Columbus became a flashpoint during the Black Lives Matter protests, which followed the killing of George Floyd. During that period, several U.S. cities removed monuments to the explorer, whose voyages in the late 15th century paved the way for European colonization of the Americas.
The protests triggered a broader reassessment of the legacy of colonialism and slavery, with critics arguing that traditional portrayals of Columbus overlook his treatment of Indigenous peoples.
In his letter, Trump described Columbus as “the original American hero and one of the bravest and most visionary individuals to ever walk the Earth.”
The statue is a reconstruction of one unveiled in Baltimore in 1984 by former President Ronald Reagan, which was toppled during the 2020 protests.
Separately, U.S. authorities announced that a statue of Caesar Rodney will be displayed in Washington after being removed during protests in Delaware, while a monument to Confederate General Albert Pike has already been reinstalled.
