President Donald Trump plans to install a statue of Christopher Columbus on the White House grounds, according to people familiar with the idea. The move is part of a wider effort by the administration to reshape the look and feel of the presidential campus.
The statue is a rebuilt version of a piece that once stood in Baltimore. Protesters pulled that original statue down in 2020 and threw it into the cityβs Inner Harbor.
Three people with knowledge of the discussions said the restored sculpture is likely to be moved from a warehouse on Marylandβs Eastern Shore to federal grounds soon. Officials say the planned spot is on the south side of the White House grounds, near E Street and north of the Ellipse, though plans could change.
The White House would not elaborate on the plan but did make its view clear. βIn this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero,β spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement. βAnd he will continue to be honored as such by President Trump.β
The effort to save and restore the Baltimore statue was led by a group of Italian American businessmen and local sculptors. Bill Martin, who helped recover the broken pieces and raise funds, said the work cost more than $100,000 and that the statue is expected to be transferred to the Trump administration.
βItβs not about Columbus βdiscovering Americaβ β¦ itβs about the Italian immigrants who came here and looked to Columbus as a hero,β Martin said.
Supporters see the move as a win for a community that has long celebrated Columbus. βIt is such an honor for the Italian American community,β Nino Mangione, a Republican state delegate from Maryland, wrote in an email. βThis proves that gangs, thugs, and people of that ilk donβt control things by mob rule. β¦ in America the people rule and our voices are heard.β
Critics will likely call this an intentional provocation. Columbus and the men who followed him enslaved and kidnapped many Indigenous people, forced them to work in mines and on plantations, and punished those who resisted with extreme violence. His crew also took people to Europe as captives and used systems of tribute and forced labor that shattered local communities.
Beyond the violence, Columbusβs voyages opened the door to sustained European colonization. That brought new diseases, land seizure, and long term disruption of Indigenous societies, causing sharp population losses and lasting damage to cultures and ways of life.
This planned installation comes after other changes at the White House led by the same administration. In recent months officials have pushed a plan for a giant Independence Arch in Washington, moved to restore the toppled Albert Pike Confederate statue, announced the return of a Confederate memorial to Arlington National Cemetery, and ordered reviews or the removal of slavery related exhibits and signs at several national parks, steps tied to a White House directive to restore federal sites and monuments.
Featured image via X screengrab
