In an unexpected twist, President Donald Trump has resurrected a Christopher Columbus statue, previously toppled by Black Lives Matter demonstrators into Baltimore Harbor, and given it a new home on the White House grounds. Over the weekend, the 13-foot monument found its place on the north side of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, prominently visible to passersby along Pennsylvania Avenue. This statue, a replica crafted from fragments of the original, was initially unveiled with Ronald Reagan in attendance and remained a fixture for 36 years until its dramatic plunge on July 4, 2020.

In a letter addressed to Basil Russo, the head of the Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations, Trump expressed his gratitude for the statue donation. “I am truly honored that this magnificent statue will now sit on the grounds of the White House,” Trump stated, extolling Columbus as “the original American hero and one of the most gallant and visionary men to ever walk the face of the Earth.” Russo shared the President’s correspondence publicly and with members of his other organization, the Italian Sons and Daughters of America.

This statue installation aligns with Trump’s broader efforts to counter what he terms a “woke” agenda, which includes renaming military bases that had Confederate ties and removing what he considers “ideological” content, such as slavery exhibits, from the Smithsonian. While Columbus is often credited with the discovery of the Americas, his legacy is increasingly scrutinized today, given his role in enslaving indigenous peoples and instigating the spread of diseases and conflict among Native Americans. In response, some states have opted to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day each October.

Joe Biden joined them in 2021, becoming the first president to mark Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Trump signed a proclamation last October to mark Columbus Day exclusively, saying in the Oval Office: ‘We’re back, we’re back, Italians.’ The statue’s fate is entangled with one of the defining crises of Trump’s first term: the death of George Floyd, a black man killed by white Minneapolis police officers over Memorial Day weekend 2020. Floyd’s death set off a wave of BLM protests around the world amid the pandemic.

The Columbus statue was tossed into Baltimore Harbor during Independence Day festivities that year. Trump, running for reelection at the time, was openly critical of the protests, opting to push a law-and-order and ‘Blue Lives Matter’ message instead. He also disavowed the destruction of monuments that included statues of Confederate figures. By planting the statue in one of Washington’s most visible corridors, Trump is pushing back on two fronts at once: the movement to retire Columbus and the Black Lives Matter cause that toppled him.

In Baltimore, officials refused to install the new statue, leading Russo to reach out to the Trump administration instead. ‘Columbus statues have long stood as symbols of pride and cultural identity for more than 18 million Americans of Italian descent,’ Russo argued in a statement. ‘For over a century, Columbus’s legacy helped Italian immigrants navigate prejudice and hardship, serving as a source of unity and belonging as they built new lives in this country,’ the Italian-American leader added.