Trump Installs Christopher Columbus Statue at Eisenhower Building to Honor Italian Americans

Trump says he placed a Christopher Columbus statue at the entrance to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House to honor the Italian American community.

First Published: September 7, 2026, 5:32 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump said he installed a statue of Christopher Columbus at the entrance to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, next to the White House, to honor the Italian American community.

Trump described the placement as a mark of respect for what he called industrious and brilliant people, and said the gesture had been greatly appreciated. The statue stands on a pedestal at the base of the building’s main staircase, at the center of a paved plaza in Washington, D.C. Columbus, the subject of the statue, was a 15th-century explorer remembered as the navigator whose 1492 voyage led to European awareness of the Americas.

“I did this in Honor of the Italian American Community — Industrious, brilliant, wonderful people,” Trump wrote in the post.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “Christopher Columbus proudly stands at the entrance to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, directly adjacent to the White House, one of the most important Entrances to a Building in D.C. I did this in Honor of the Italian American Community — Industrious, brilliant, wonderful people. It is something that they have greatly appreciated! Trump” on September 7, 2026 at 5:17 PM ET.

This is Trump’s 15th message released today, and the last post was 2 hours ago, and it is not part of a thread. On average, Trump produces 18 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025. The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 9 of his 644 posts over the last 30 days classified as Culture posts.

A statue of Christopher Columbus posed at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington D.C. on 09/07/2026.

Columbus was born in Italy in 1451, and his real name in Italian was Cristoforo Colombo, according to BBC Online. He set sail in 1492 after the King of Spain paid for three ships, the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa Maria, and his crew spotted land a few months later, according to bbc.co.United Kingdom. He became famous as the explorer credited with finding the lands that Europeans called the Americas, according to bbc.co.uk.

Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator, born in Genoa around 1451, according to EBSCO Information Services. In 1492, after securing support from the Spanish monarchy, he embarked on his first voyage believing he could find a westward route to Asia. He instead landed in the Bahamas and claimed the territory for Spain, according to ebsco. His colonization efforts brought severe consequences for Indigenous populations, leading to exploitation and a decline in their numbers through violence and disease, according to ebsco. Columbus died in 1506, and his life and voyages remain a topic of historical debate, according to ebsco.

Columbus is traditionally celebrated by Italian Americans as a symbol of heritage, though his legacy is also debated over the impact of European colonization on Indigenous peoples. Long believed to have been born in Genoa, Columbus may not have been from Italy at all, with new DNA analysis suggesting he descended from Galician nobility in Spain, according to Metro.co.United Kingdom. The preprint study by researchers at the Citogen laboratory and the Complutense University of Madrid pointed to ancestral links with Pedro Alvarez de Sotomayor, a 15th-century feudal lord. The researchers said the work is not conclusive and has yet to be peer reviewed, according to metro.co.uk.