Is It Any Surprise That Trump Loves Columbus?

There’s a new statue on the White House grounds that’s going to upset a lot of people…and deliberately so.

Christopher Columbus’s reputation has endured a steady decline throughout the 21st century. He’s gone from an incorrect answer on a history pop quiz to someone heavily criticized for their true impact, to a broken statue at the bottom of a Baltimore Harbour.

We’ll come back to that statue later.

Photo by Ricky Beron on Unsplash

Saying Columbus discovered America is the lazy answer to a more complex question. He was one of many Europeans to land on the already inhabited continent, prior to the settlement at Jamestown. He just happened to have the most significant lasting impact through colonization and the creation of trade routes back to Europe, including slave trade routes.

Columbus was a hero to those back home who celebrated his achievements and profited from his discovery. He was seen as a shining example of bold explorers and pioneers, as someone who conquered new frontiers. According to Donald Trump, he was the “original American hero”. That doesn’t quite work, as Columbus was Italian and America as a nation didn’t exist yet, but you get what he was going for. It wasn’t any of the Founding Fathers or influential revolutionaries; it was Columbus.

Columbus was so highly revered for so long that he even got a national holiday named after him. It was recognised as a federal holiday by President Johnson in 1971 after regular local celebrations and a one-off national day back in 1892.

Yet, not all areas currently observe it as a federal holiday. Washington and Oregon made it unofficial, while many others, including Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, and Los Angeles County, have a day to honour indigenous people instead. It’s a simple protest to give a voice to those who are misrepresented and misunderstood, rather than the man whose colonisation efforts led to displacement, slavery, and slaughter.

Photo by Dorian Labbe on Unsplash

Naturally, Trump continues to see Columbus as someone America must be proud of, rather than someone to be ashamed of. His proclamation on Columbus Day 2025 included the following quote.

Above all, we commit to restoring a Nation that once again dares to tame the unknown, honors our rich cultural inheritance, and offers rightful praise to our Creator above.

That part about daring to tame the unknown feels like an ominous warning with the benefit of hindsight. It wasn’t long after that that Trump followed in Columbus’ footsteps with his own mission in Venezuela. Then came more Greenland threats, talk of “taking” Cuba, and the current war with Iran.

The act of clinging to Columbus as an American hero to emulate does more for Trump than simply offering a precedent for invasion. If those on the far left want to erase Columbus from the landscape and alter the history books, he will use Columbus’s name and image to attack them.

Which brings us to that new statue.

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In 2020, during the BLM movement and other rallies for social justice, protestors began tearing down statues to make a point. Slave traders and those who committed atrocities against minorities were ceremonially beheaded and toppled to the ground. A statue of Columbus in Baltimore ended up in pieces at the bottom of the harbor.

The movement saw a mixture of support and outrage for using criminal damage as a means to make a point. Supporters of Columbus were saddened to see the Baltimore statue destroyed, and some began a campaign to bring him back from the dead. Divers located the sunken pieces, which were then scanned to create a replica image. That image then led to the figure now standing outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The most interesting aspect of this statue is the inscription on the large plinth below him. This is not purely to honor Columbus. It’s a political statement.

Destroyed: July 4, 2020. Resurrected: 2022. Rededicated by President Donald J. Trump: October 11, 2025

The only way for most Americans to see this, however, is through photos online. The statue is not open for public viewing and sits a long way behind a fence.

Someone will see that as a challenge, though. Let’s see how long this one remains upright.