Trump plans to install new statue celebrating explorer Christopher Columbus near White House: Report

United States President Donald Trump has reportedly decided to install near the White House a replica of a statue of famed Italian explorer Christopher Columbus that was dumped in the city’s harbour by protesters in 2020 - first term of Trump as president. The government will loan the statue from the Italian American Organizations United, confirmed John Pica, who is also a Maryland lobbyist, reported the Associated Press.

The organization was contacted about the statue around Columbus Day last year by an intermediary, said Pica to the news agency. Thereafter a a straw vote was done and it was unanimously decided to send the statue to the White House, he said further.

When asked whether the statue would make it to the White House, Pica said, “Cautiously optimistic, yes.” However, the exact date and time of the installation was unclear, Pica said.

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Though the government is yet to officially confirm this, White House spokesman Davis Ingle in a statement to the Washington Post that first reported the news said, "In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero. And he will continue to be honored as such by President Trump." Immediately after Ingle made the statement it went viral.

Controversy around the statue

Columbus is hailed as a hero by some while many see him as a person responsible for his treatment of Indigenous people and initiating centuries of violence and colonialism.

Trump has often argued that the "glorious" past of the US as been dishonored by “left-wing arsonists.”

The statue after being dumped in the city’s harbour by protesters in 2020 was reconstructed with the help of the Italian-American community that also got financial support from federal grant funding. The statue is now stored in Maryland.