At the rear of the White House, facing Pennsylvania Avenue, a statue of Christopher Columbus has been installed in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, 100 meters from the West Wing. Protected by high barriers, it dominates the northern entrance to the presidential complex. Harry S. Truman had a security wall erected; Kennedy had added a solarium. With this gesture, Trump extends his ambition for a “heroes’ palace”. The statue becomes the first visible point during demonstrations. The chosen location reflects a political statement.
The work, installed on the night of March 22 to 23, is not a new creation. It is a faithful replica of a monument erected in Little Italy, in Baltimore, inaugurated by Ronald Reagan in 1984 for the 500th anniversary of the explorer’s arrival in the Caribbean. 4 meters high, the statue of Christopher Columbus was made from archives by a sculptor from Maryland, commissioned by the Italian American Organizations United, chaired by lobbyist John Pica.
Overturned and thrown into the port on July 4, 2020, during the mobilizations following the death of George Floyd, the original (weighing 1.2 tonnes) was saved fragment by fragment. The items were recovered the next day by Italian-American volunteers with the help of the Baltimore Coast Guard. This debris was restored thanks to $150,000 (approximately 138,000 euros) in Italian-Maryland community donations and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2025. The replica was then requested by the White House around Columbus Day 2025, then loaned for free via a February 19 agreement and a unanimous vote of Pica’s council for the term of office.
The installation comes in the run-up to the 250th anniversary of American independence. The White House presents it as the “first pillar” of a “Garden of Original American Heroes”. Christopher Columbus will rub shoulders with other “courageous and visionary” figures, according to the terms of the official press release. Spokesman David Ingle says Christopher Columbus is a hero, and will remain so under the Trump presidency. This is a direct echo of the decree of April 2025 where the president swore to “resurrect Columbus Day from the ashes”which remains a federal holiday.
Joe Biden’s annual proclamations on Indigenous Peoples’ Day starting in 2021 took an uncompromising account, evoking a centuries-old campaign of violence, displacement, assimilation and terror inflicted on indigenous nations by the first Europeans, led by Christopher Columbus. Trump reverses the narrative. His proclamation of October 2025 crowns him “original American hero”, “man of faith, courage and perseverance », snatched from the “leftist arsonists” accused of wanting to erase it. The statue now sits under the protection of the Secret Service.
