Donald Trump has placed a new statue of Christopher Columbus within the grounds of the White House, continuing to champion the historical figure. The move comes amid the ongoing debate over the legacy of the controversial Italian explorer.
Donald Trump puts new statue near the White House
A 13-foot statue of Christopher Columbus has been installed outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the premises of the White House. The statue is a replica of the statue that was dumped into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor as part of the 2020 nationwide protests against racism following the murder of George Floyd.
In a recent letter to Basil Russo, the president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, Donald Trump stated that the statue “was placed on the White House campus together with a second statue titled Freedom’s Charge, a life-size sculpture representing the revolutionary struggle to win America’s independence.”
In light of the recent installation of the statue, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle also gave an official statement, saying, “In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he’s honored as such for generations to come.”
The installation comes amid Trump’s continued efforts to restore statues of Columbus that were vandalized or removed by the protesters, whom the President described as “anti-American rioters”. The Italian explorer has long been a controversial figure in world history.
Long viewed as a pioneer in maritime navigation and as the first European to make contact with the Americas, Columbus is now being criticized for heralding the continent’s colonization and for his role in the treatment of native communities.
Trump has long been a staunch supporter of Columbus and maintains a traditional view of the Italian navigator. Elsewhere in his letter to Russo, Trump wrote, “Christopher Columbus was the original American hero and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the Earth.”
