WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump hosted a Columbus Day celebration at the White House on Friday, underscoring his administration’s effort to honor Christopher Columbus as a hero and elevate the holiday ahead of Monday’s observance.
Trump’s Columbus Day proclamation declares Oct. 12 as Columbus Day and praises the Italian explorer’s “valor, adventure, and ingenuity.” The president wrote that Columbus’ 1492 voyage “set in motion the forces that would culminate in the miracle of July 4, 1776.”
The celebration comes months after a replica of a Christopher Columbus statue was placed on the grounds of the White House, near the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
The mostly marble statue was made from remnants of another Columbus monument that was destroyed and thrown into Baltimore’s harbor during the 2020 unrest following George Floyd’s death.
“We are delighted the statue has found a place where it can peacefully shine and be protected,” John Pica, a Maryland lobbyist and president of Italian American Organizations United, which owns the statue and agreed to loan it to the federal government, said when it was installed in March.
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“In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a February statement. “And he will continue to be honored as such by President Trump.”
The move comes amid a broader debate over Columbus’ legacy. In recent years, some institutions and government entities have replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. President Joe Biden became the first president in 2021 to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples Day with a proclamation.
Trump has criticized those efforts, saying he would bring Columbus Day “back from the ashes.”
“The Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much,” Trump said. “They tore down his statues, and put up nothing but ‘WOKE,’ or even worse, nothing at all!”
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