U.S. President Donald Trump paid tribute Friday to Christopher Columbus, whose image and legacy he said he had “resurrected,” during a White House ceremony ahead of Oct. 12 that was attended by the ambassadors of Italy and Spain.
“I, and some people in this room, resurrected Christopher Columbus. Before, you couldn’t even say his name. If you said his name, they’d call you some kind of evil being,” he said in the East Room, flanked by two photographs of monuments to the explorer that his administration restored.
The Republican said that, for his administration, Columbus is a “hero” because he “changed the future of humanity forever.”
The speech was filled with references to the contributions of the Italian American community to the United States, where Columbus is closely tied to Italy because the navigator was born in Genoa.
Trump is also seeking to win the support of this community ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
“This Italian explorer (Christopher Columbus) was perhaps the first Italian American in history,” the president said, even though Columbus never set foot on what is now the United States.
Guests included the ambassadors of Italy and Spain, Marco Peronaci and Ángeles Moreno Bau. The ceremony featured a performance by American tenor Christopher Macchio, who sang “Nessun Dorma,” and attendees were served prosciutto with melon.
Columbus Day is a federal holiday observed in the United States on the second Monday of October to commemorate the navigator’s arrival in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492, on an expedition funded by the Spanish Crown.
Spain, for its part, celebrates its National Day on Oct. 12, popularly known as Hispanic Day (Día de la Hispanidad).
The previous administration, led by Democrat Joe Biden (2021-2025), officially recognized the second Monday of October as Indigenous Peoples’ Day amid questions about Columbus’ legacy and his role in the start of colonization and slavery.
After returning to power in 2025, Trump announced he would stop recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day as part of his defense of the navigator’s legacy.
In March, his administration installed a statue of Columbus near the White House, a replica of one that protesters toppled and threw into Baltimore’s harbor in Maryland in July 2020, during protests against racism.
Trump said in September that he had placed the statue in honor of the Italian American community, whose members he described as “hardworking, brilliant and wonderful people.”
In May, the U.S. government reopened a restored fountain dedicated to Columbus in front of Washington’s train station, at an event to which the ambassadors of Italy and Spain were also invited.
Source: EFE