₦airaland Forum

A statue of Christopher Columbus has been erected outside of an ornate federal office building on the White House grounds — the latest sign of the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape cultural and historical representations across the nation’s capital.

The installation of the statue — which is a replica of one toppled in Baltimore during racial justice protests in 2020 — occurred over the weekend outside of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It comes as the Trump administration pushes forward with its efforts to bring back statues that were removed in the wake of the protests.

President Donald Trump, in a letter published by the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, praised the group for its “incredible generosity” in bringing the statue to Washington after the original was “torn down by anti-American rioters.”

Many statues of Columbus, an Italian often falsely credited as the first overseas explorer to discover America, were taken down at the height of the demonstrations over George Floyd’s murder in 2020. Columbus has long been a contentious figure in history for his treatment of Indigenous communities and for his role ushering in European colonization in the Americas.

The White House said it’s “proud” to honor Columbus. “As we celebrate our Nation’s 250th anniversary of independence, the White House is proud to honor Christopher Columbus’s legendary life and legacy with a well-deserved statue on the White House grounds,” spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement to CNN on Monday.

“President Trump has rightly hailed Christopher 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.’ In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he’s honored as such for generations to come.”


The 13-foot statue recently installed on the White House campus is a copy of a work that was wrenched down from its pedestal and thrown into Baltimore’s harbor in 2020. While it stands across from the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery and near the White House building, it’s not accessible for close public viewing and is blocked off by rows of fences.

The new work contains pieces of the statue that were retrieved from the Baltimore Harbor, according to a release from the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, which worked with the White House to bring the statue to Washington in celebration of Italian American culture and the United States’ 250th anniversary.

“Columbus statues have long stood as symbols of pride and cultural identity for more than 18 million Americans of Italian descent,” the group’s president, Basil Russo, said in a news release. “For over a century, Columbus’s legacy helped Italian immigrants navigate prejudice and hardship, serving as a source of unity and belonging as they built new lives in this country.”

“Christopher Columbus was the original American hero and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the Earth,” Trump said in his letter, adding Columbus’ voyage in 1492 “carried thousands of years of wisdom, philosophy, reason, and culture across the Atlantic into the Americas.”

The installation builds on Trump’s push to bring back statues that were removed in the wake of the Floyd protests. Across the country, controversial statues — especially Confederate monuments — were removed after the mass demonstrations in 2020.


So far, the Trump administration has reinstalled a statue of Confederate officer Albert Pike in Washington, DC, and announced plans to return a Confederate memorial to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Ironfaceman:
While many village illiterates on nairaland will celebrate the installation of such a statue.

They never knew that Christopher Colombus,
the father of segregation

why his statues were pulled down across the US.

And why many black heritage site in the US are converted to amusement Park and slave trade emancipation statues are being pulled down by executive order. Is like some people are trying to erase black history in America.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administration-is-intentionally-erasing-the-black-history-told-by-public-lands-and-waters/#:~:text=In%20January%202026%2C%20the%20Trump,hostility%20toward%20formerly%20enslaved%20people.

zoedew:
Who discovered America? He was white.

zoedew:
Who discovered America? He was white.

Omoawoke:
One of the most evil men to ever exist on earth.


The conqueror will tell history to favor them—

Black African Slav3ss that can think will join them to worship their white masters

The best way to make black Africans love you is to be extremely brutal in your oppression over them … lol

2mch:
The man who claimed to discover America despite meeting indigenous people there who welcomed him. Then he turn around and kill them with disease and violence.

It’s like someone claiming to discover Nigeria despite meeting kings, people, families and cultural societies.

2mch:
The man who claimed to discover America despite meeting indigenous people there who welcomed him. Then he turn around and kill them with disease and violence.

It’s like someone claiming to discover Nigeria despite meeting kings, people, families and cultural societies.

esnbrutality:
Change your Name from NIGERIA to reject LORD Lugard...can you?

Ironfaceman:
While many village illiterates on nairaland will celebrate the installation of such a statue.

They never knew that Christopher Colombus,
the father of segregation

why his statues were pulled down across the US.

And why many black heritage site in the US are converted to amusement Park and slave trade emancipation statues are being pulled down by executive order. Is like some people are trying to erase black history in America.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administration-is-intentionally-erasing-the-black-history-told-by-public-lands-and-waters/#:~:text=In%20January%202026%2C%20the%20Trump,hostility%20toward%20formerly%20enslaved%20people.

zoedew:
Who discovered America? He was white.

OriOko88:
I understand their action
Without Colombia, USA will never have attained the greatness it has today. If Europeans are inhabitants of Nigeria, Nigeria would hv been a developed country since
Fact!!

Ironfaceman:
While many village illiterates on nairaland will celebrate the installation of such a statue.

They never knew that Christopher Colombus,
the father of segregation

why his statues were pulled down across the US.

And why many black heritage site in the US are converted to amusement Park and slave trade emancipation statues are being pulled down by executive order. Is like some people are trying to erase black history in America.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administration-is-intentionally-erasing-the-black-history-told-by-public-lands-and-waters/#:~:text=In%20January%202026%2C%20the%20Trump,hostility%20toward%20formerly%20enslaved%20people.

esnbrutality:
You guys are something else. How can you be so fixated on America and you PROUDLY bear the name NIGERIAN given to you be the mistress 'not the wife' of Lugard.

Chai...

PigTormentor:
Trump is doing everything and anything to erase African American history from slavery to today
Sad day in America.

Ironfaceman:
Stop your whining. We are looking into the man that enslaved your fore father.

So how will you feel when monuments built to honor nnamdi Kanu was converted to refuse dump.



.

2mch:
But they were here till 1960. You want to see what the roads in Lagos looked like in 1960 outside of the government area? This slavery in your DNA need to be washed.

esnbrutality:
But upu are LOYAL to BRITISH COLONIALIST till today after shouting INDEPENDENCE

Even your PRESIDENT went to UNITED KINGDOM recently to kiss the hands of a MISTRESS who later became WIFE 'NOT QUEEN' to the king of UK.

Camilla is not addressed as QUEEN and TINUBU used his kpomo mouth to kiss her hand and you cheered on as if its an achievement.

Face your own Issues busybody.

esnbrutality:
You guys are something else. How can you be so fixated on America and you PROUDLY bear the name NIGERIAN given to you be the mistress 'not the wife' of Lugard.

Chai...

OriOko88:
Abeg mk I hear word.
Who helped u built the roads. Did u fore fathers build any paved road before the whites came to Nigeria?? The first paved roads, railways and electricity were built by the white missionaries


Were your fore fathers using electricity before the Europeans came?? Be grateful to them for once

Ironfaceman:
I don't understand what your saying. We are not talking about tinubu or Camille.

Do you know how many Africans Colombus enslaved.

Kalashnikov49:
Why una like to cry like this .. That Esnbrutality guy dey finish all of una for this platform with facts and figures.

Wetin koncern Nnamdi Kanu for here na..is that how deep your pain is?

Esnbrutality said you should face ypur direct challenges...is that bad? Have you used all these propaganda against Trump to ask why your OBAS and citizens are being exterminated without TINUBU saying anything?

Or you need the same TRUMP to come and help you again?

OriOko88:
Abeg mk I hear word.
Who helped u built the roads. Did ur fore fathers build any paved road before the whites came to Nigeria?? The first paved roads, railways and electricity were built by the white missionaries .

The whites built ur fore fathers hospitals and schools


Were your fore fathers using electricity before the Europeans came?? Be grateful to them for once

2mch:
Yes, my forefathers built all the roads in my region. No White man built anything that lasted in SW except missionary schools. Which then use bread steal Nigeria resources. For your village, how many mansion Oyinbo build for you and your forefathers despite occupying your country for over 100yrs? Even Nigeria is not up to 100years and far more developed than how your White gods left it now.