<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>US President </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="_blank" title="Donald Trump"><span>Donald Trump</span></a><span> is taking steps toward installing near the White House a replica of a statue of famed explorer Christopher Columbus that had been tossed into Baltimore's harbour during his first term amid protests against institutional racism.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>John Pica, a Maryland lobbyist and president of the Italian American Organisations United, said his group owns the statue and agreed to loan it to the federal government for placement at or near the White House.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pica told The Associated Press in an interview that he was contacted about the statue around Columbus Day last year by an intermediary who said the White House was looking for a statue of the explorer. Pica says his organisation took a straw vote and unanimously decided to send the statue to the White House. They signed the loan agreement on Wednesday.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/start-nuclear-treaty-expiry-russia-says-its-still-ready-to-talk-to-us-on-nuclear-limits-as-existing-treaty-expires/fd126faa-bc1d-4c12-bcb8-a3b05fecf836" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Trump derides expiring nuclear treaty with Russia, demands new pact</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Asked if he was optimistic the statue would make it to the White House, Pica said, "Cautiously optimistic, yes." The exact timing for any planned installation was unclear, he said, though he added, "possibly within two weeks".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Maryland state Delegate Nino Mangione, a Republican who has worked with the Italian American group to find the statue a new home after it was pulled from the harbour, also confirmed the plans for the statue, which were first reported earlier on Wednesday by </span><em><span>The Washington Post</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The White House declined to comment to the AP on plans for the statue but reaffirmed Trump's affinity for Columbus, whose legacy has shifted as historians and educators amplify how white European figures and their descendants treated Native Americans and enslaved Africans to develop the New World.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/christopher-columbus-statue-to-be-installed-in-washington/f234d3ff-525e-4664-bbd8-0ca02ee6dc61" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-journalist-savannah-guthrie-mother-still-out-there-says-sheriff/8e825442-ab44-42b4-9950-5e5032d8682d" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Savannah Guthrie's missing mother is 'still out there,' sheriff says</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero," said Trump spokesman David Ingle.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And he will continue to be honoured as such by President Trump."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>For Pica and his group, the statue's Washington placement would celebrate a famous Italian who holds iconic status among Italian Americans. For Trump, it would be another move to reshape the telling of US history as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump endorses a traditional view of Columbus as the leader of the 1492 mission that marked the unofficial beginning of European colonisation in the Americas and the development of the modern economic and political order. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But in recent years, Columbus also been recognised as a primary example of Western Europe's conquest of the New World, its resources and its native people.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>WINTER OLYMPICS:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://wwos.nine.com.au/olympics/milano-cortina-2026-penis-injections-ski-jumping-wada-investigates/22057026-16ce-42c6-9de9-5ed296f1b90c" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>WADA probes bizarre 'penis injection' claims in ski jumping</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The statue now headed to Washington is a replica of one toppled by protesters on July 4, 2020, and thrown into Baltimore's Inner Harbour after anger boiled over following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police. It was one of many statues of Columbus that were vandalised around the same time, with protesters saying the Italian explorer was responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was there when we got it out of the harbour," Mangione said, adding that artist Will Hemsley used parts of the old statue, first unveiled during Ronald Reagan's presidency, "to build and restore a beautiful, brand new statue."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In recent years, some individuals, institutions and government entities have displaced Columbus Day with recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day. President Joe Biden in 2021 became the first US president to mark Indigenous Peoples Day with a proclamation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Statue may not be permanent</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pica emphasised that his group is lending the statue and would reclaim it if a future administration wanted it taken down.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump dismisses the shift on Columbus as "left-wing arsonists" bending history and twisting Americans' collective memory. "I'm bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes," he declared last April.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Echoing his 2024 campaign rhetoric, he complained that "Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump issued a Columbus Day proclamation last October and ignored Indigenous Peoples Day. He praised Columbus as "the original American hero, a giant of Western civilisation, and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the earth".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That tribute reflected Trump's broader take on history. Last spring, he signed an executive order titled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History," which bemoaned "a concerted and widespread effort to rewrite our Nation's history" in a way that misrepresents the US "as inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Since the order, the administration has demanded a comprehensive review of exhibits across all Smithsonian museums and pushed Executive Branch agencies and state and local entities – especially colleges, universities and schools – that receive federal funding to roll back their diversity initiatives.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div>