President Trump Installs Rebuilt Columbus Statue Destroyed During BLM Riots On White House Grounds

President Trump is ensuring American history is not erased.

Over the weekend, a familiar statue was spotted on the White House grounds.

President Trump installed a statue of Christopher Columbus on White House grounds.

It wasn’t just any statue either.

It was a rebuilt statue that used the pieces of a Christopher Columbus statue that was destroyed during the BLM protests in 2020.

The Guardian reported more on the Columbus statue being placed on White House grounds:

A statue of Christopher Columbus has been installed in the grounds of the White House in the latest attempt by Donald Trump to position the controversial explorer as a foundational hero of the US.

The president had the 13ft statue, which weighs one ton, placed outside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, on Pennsylvania Avenue. It is a replica of a monument to Columbus that was torn down and tossed into Baltimore’s inner harbor by protesters in the city amid widespread anti-racism protests in 2020.

The new statue was built in 2022 with shattered pieces of the original monument that were retrieved from the harbor. The pedestal of the statue is inscribed: “Destroyed July 4, 2020 … Resurrected 2022 … Rededicated by President Donald J. Trump, October 13, 2025.”

Trump wrote in a letter to Basil Russo, leader of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, which owns the statue and loaned it to the federal government, that Columbus “was the original American hero and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the Earth”.

The president added that he was “truly honored that this magnificent statue will now sit on the grounds of the White House”. The White House added on a post on X that Columbus was a “hero” and that Trump would ensure he was “honored as such for generations to come.”

Columbus has long been hailed as the discoverer of America, even though he never set foot on the continental United States, coming closest by arriving in what is now the Bahamas. But Columbus is also a controversial historical figure due to his role as a slave trader and the subjugation and killing of Indigenous people in the Caribbean, where he made several voyages between 1492 and 1504.

Take a look:

White House installs Christopher Columbus statue made from remains of toppled sculpture https://t.co/vkavfKHskT pic.twitter.com/Jcl63QUHbr

— New York Post (@nypost) March 22, 2026

Another look:

A statue of Christopher Columbus has been placed in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House this weekend. This was the statue formerly in Baltimore before it was torn down by protesters during Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020. pic.twitter.com/YyDkyJpL0u

— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) March 23, 2026

The Baltimore Banner shared more details on the new statue:

The statue’s owners, the Italian American Organizations United, said they have agreed to loan the marble statue to the Trump administration and have signed an agreement with the National Park Service.

The group’s president, John Pica, called the installation a victory.

“In a sense, it’s an achievement after going through a very difficult and trying process,” Pica said.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said the statue’s place on White House grounds is “well deserved” and that President Donald Trump has “rightly hailed Christopher Columbus as ‘the original American hero.’”