President Trump declared he had “resurrected” Christopher Columbus during a White House ceremony honoring Italian American heritage.
Trump, 78, spoke last Friday at a Columbus Day celebration where he announced plans to install a new statue of the explorer in the Rose Garden alongside existing monuments to Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. The event drew prominent Italian American figures including opera singer Christopher Macchio, who performed, and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
“I resurrected Christopher Columbus,” Trump told the applauding crowd. “He’s been rehabbed 100 percent, and he’s been resurrected in the true sense. He’s back to where he should be.”
The president framed his defense of Columbus as part of a broader cultural battle against what he called “radical left communists” seeking to dismantle American traditions. He accused political opponents of targeting Italian American identity specifically, warning that “those who hate our country want to see the Italian American community erased.”
Trump claimed liberals had attempted to suppress Italian American representation even in popular culture, alleging they tried to prevent filmmakers from using Italian names for mobster characters. “They didn’t want you to use the name of Alphonse Capone,” he said. “You weren’t allowed to use Italian names.”
The president also singled out Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, falsely claiming he wanted to eliminate Columbus Day entirely. “He wants to abolish Columbus,” Trump stated. “We have people — these lunatics that are running. They’re all against Christopher Columbus.” He repeatedly called Columbus a “hero” throughout his remarks.
The Rose Garden statue will be Trump’s second Columbus monument on the White House complex. The first, located in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, is a replica of a Baltimore statue that protesters toppled into the harbor during 2020 racial justice demonstrations. Fragments recovered from the water were incorporated into that monument.
The newly unveiled second statue was crafted by the designer of the White House heliport and depicts Columbus encircled by four female figures representing Europe, America, Asia, and Africa. It will be positioned directly outside the Oval Office.
Trump’s embrace of Columbus marks a sharp reversal from the previous administration. In 2021, President Joe Biden formally proclaimed Indigenous Peoples Day as a federal holiday, establishing it alongside rather than replacing Columbus Day in an effort to acknowledge the violence European colonizers committed against Native Americans. Trump has since restored Columbus Day to what he considers its proper standing.
The president also paid tribute to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose son Andrew attended the ceremony in his father’s absence. “We love Italian Americans,” Trump told the crowd. “I love you. That’s why I’m here.” He noted that Italian Americans had historically been “a very discriminated group.”
Columbus made landfall in what is now the Bahamas in 1492, initiating widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His legacy has become increasingly contested in recent decades as historians have documented the enslavement, violence and disease that followed European contact with Indigenous populations.
The Rose Garden installation ceremony date has not been formally announced.