Columbus Statue Installed at White House After Being Thrown in Baltimore Harbor

President Trump has installed a Christopher Columbus statue on White House grounds, using a replica of one that protesters threw into Baltimore's Inner Harbor in 2020. The marble statue was crafted by Eastern Shore sculptor Will Hemsley and is on loan from Italian American Organizations United.

A Christopher Columbus statue now stands on federal property next to the White House, marking President Trump’s latest move to honor the disputed historical figure.

The marble sculpture sits on the grounds of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and serves as a replacement for a statue that protesters hurled into Baltimore’s Inner Harbor during 2020 demonstrations against racial injustice.

Trump supports the conventional perspective of Columbus as the leader who launched European settlement in the Americas in 1492, helping establish today’s economic and political systems. However, modern critics view Columbus as a symbol of European domination over indigenous populations and their lands.

“In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he’s honored as such for generations to come,” officials posted on the administration’s X account.

John Pica, who leads Italian American Organizations United and works as a Maryland lobbyist, expressed satisfaction with the statue’s new location. “We are delighted the statue has found a place where it can peacefully shine and be protected,” Pica said. His organization owns the sculpture and agreed to lend it to the federal government.

The artwork was sculpted by Will Hemsley, an artist who operates from Centreville on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Demonstrators knocked down the original Baltimore statue on July 4, 2020, and cast it into the Inner Harbor following nationwide outrage over George Floyd’s death in police custody. Similar Columbus monuments faced destruction across the country as protesters argued the explorer enabled the massacre and oppression of Native Americans.

Various organizations and government bodies have recently begun observing Indigenous Peoples Day instead of Columbus Day. In 2021, President Biden became the first sitting president to officially recognize Indigenous Peoples Day through a formal proclamation.

Trump has criticized this cultural shift, labeling those who question Columbus as “left-wing arsonists” who distort historical facts and manipulate American heritage. “I’m bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes,” he announced last April, while also claiming that “Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much.”