Trump taking steps toward installing a Columbus statue near the White House

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (AP) — President Donald Trump is taking steps toward installing near the White House a replica of a statue of famed explorer Christopher Columbus that had been tossed into Baltimore's harbor during his first term amid protests against institutional racism.

John Pica, a Maryland lobbyist and president of the Italian American Organizations United, said his group owns the statue and agreed to loan it to the federal government for placement at or near the White House.

Pica told The Associated Press in an interview that he was contacted about the statue around Columbus Day last year by an intermediary who said the White House was looking for a statue of the explorer. Pica says his organization took a straw vote and unanimously decided to send the statue to the White House. They signed the loan agreement Wednesday.

Asked if he was optimistic the statue would make it to the White House, Pica said, “Cautiously optimistic, yes.” The exact timing for any planned installation was unclear, he said, though he added, “possibly within two weeks.”

Maryland state Del. Nino Mangione, a Republican who has worked with the Italian American group to find the statue a new home after it was pulled from the harbor, also confirmed the plans for the statue, which were first reported earlier Wednesday by The Washington Post.

The White House declined to comment to the AP on plans for the statue but reaffirmed Trump’s affinity for Columbus, whose legacy has shifted as historians and educators amplify how white European figures and their descendants treated Native Americans and enslaved Africans to develop the New World.

“In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero,” said Trump spokesman David Ingle. “And he will continue to be honored as such by President Trump.”

Trump wants to put his own stamp on American history ahead of big anniversary celebration

For Pica and his group, the statue's Washington placement would celebrate a famous Italian who holds iconic status among Italian Americans. For Trump, it would be another move to reshape the telling of U.S. history as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Trump endorses a traditional view of Columbus as leader of the 1492 mission that marked the unofficial beginning of European colonization in the Americas and the development of the modern economic and political order. But in recent years, Columbus also been recognized as a primary example of Western Europe’s conquest of the New World, its resources and its native people.

The statue now headed to Washington is a replica of one toppled by protesters on July 4, 2020, and thrown into Baltimore's Inner Harbor after anger boiled over following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. It was one of many statues of Columbus that were vandalized around the same time, with protesters saying the Italian explorer was responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.

“I was there when we got it out of the harbor,” Mangione said, adding that artist Will Hemsley used parts of the old statue, first unveiled during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, “to build and restore a beautiful, brand new statue.”

In recent years, some individuals, institutions and government entities have displaced Columbus Day with recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day. President Joe Biden in 2021 became the first U.S. president to mark Indigenous Peoples Day with a proclamation.

The statue may not be permanent

Pica emphasized that his group is lending the statue and would reclaim it if a future administration wanted it taken down.

Trump dismisses the shift on Columbus as “left-wing arsonists” bending history and twisting Americans’ collective memory. “I’m bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes.,” he declared last April. Echoing his 2024 campaign rhetoric, he complained that “Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much.”

Trump issued a Columbus Day proclamation last October and ignored Indigenous Peoples Day. He praised Columbus as “the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth.”

That tribute reflected Trump's broader take on history. Last spring, he signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” which bemoaned “a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation’s history” in a way that misrepresents the U.S. “as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”

Since the order, the administration has demanded a comprehensive review of exhibits across all Smithsonian museums and pushed Executive Branch agencies and state and local entities — especially colleges, universities and schools — that receive federal funding to roll back their diversity initiatives.

Barrow reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville contributed to this report from Washington.