WH erects replica of Christopher Columbus statue destroyed in 2020 BLM riots, calls explorer a 'hero'

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Monday, March 23, 2026

The White House erected a marble statue of Christopher Columbus outside the neighboring Eisenhower Executive Office Building over the weekend to honor the 250th anniversary of the United States and the enduring legacy of European civilization in the New World.

The statue, which stands 13 feet tall and weighs approximately one ton, was installed Sunday. It was made from the remnants of a similar statue that was torn down and thrown into Baltimore's Inner Harbor during the Black Lives Matter protests that roiled the city in 2020.

Trump has now installed the Christopher Columbus statue on the White House’s grounds.

He ended up putting it outside the EEOB building, per our photos snapped today. https://t.co/tBR9WvQaXupic.twitter.com/1VaMVsUTdm

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) March 22, 2026

The original statue was dedicated in 1984 by then-Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer and President Ronald Reagan. When it was destroyed in 2020, Baltimore's then-Mayor Jack Young said the statue "may represent different things to different people."

"We understand the dynamics that are playing out in Baltimore are part of a national narrative," his office told The Baltimore Sun at the time.

A White House spokesperson struck a different tone in a recent statement to The New York Times.

"In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he's honored as such for generations to come," the spokesperson said.

The replica statue was commissioned by the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations. Its president, Basil M. Russo, praised the statue's prominence in a statement.

"Columbus statues have long stood as symbols of pride and cultural identity for more than 18 million Americans of Italian descent," Russo said. "For over a century, Columbus' legacy helped Italian immigrants navigate prejudice and hardship, serving as a source of unity and belonging as they built new lives in this country."

"Columbus Day itself emerged in the aftermath of the 1891 New Orleans lynching, when 11 Italian immigrants were killed by a mob of thousands, an event that prompted a national effort to promote the acceptance and assimilation of Italian Americans. This history remains central to why these monuments matter," he added.

Some legacy media outlets, including The Associated Press, described the Columbus statue or Columbus himself as "controversial," while hedging on the legacy of the devout Roman Catholic explorer who brought Christianity to the New World.

On Oct. 9, Trump signed a proclamation honoring 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." The proclamation emphasized the role of Columbus' Christian faith while condemning modern-day attacks against him as "a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage."

One of the goals of Columbus' voyages was to spread the Gospel to distant lands, and his diaries recount what he believed were supernatural events and experiences.

Columbus, whose worldview was steeped in medieval thought, claimed to have seen "sirens," or mermaids, emerging from the water on Jan. 8, 1493, though some modern historians believe he was describing manatees, which are not exclusive to the Western hemisphere.

On the night of Oct. 11, 1492, hours before he and his crew landed in the Bahamas, Columbus claimed he and one other crew member perceived a flickering light in the distance that appeared faintly before vanishing, which he interpreted as a potential sign of land.

He wrote that he and a crew member "perceived it once or twice, appearing like the light of a wax candle moving up and down, which some thought an indication of land." Another crew member was unable to see it.

Some modern scholars have dismissed Columbus' flickering light story as the luminescent glow of Bermuda fireworms.

After striking land on modern-day Hispaniola on Oct. 12 and unfurling the royal standard bearing the Cross, Columbus recounted that he was moved with pity when they encountered the native people there, whom he described as "very friendly" and handsomely formed, but totally naked.

After perceiving "that they could be much more easily converted to our holy faith by gentle means than by force," Columbus wrote that he presented them with gifts that delighted them and that they swam out to his boats to give gifts of their own to the Europeans.

The inhabitants of the island "became wonderfully attached to us," Columbus said, adding, "But they seemed on the whole to me to be a very poor people."