COLUMBUS, Ohio — President Donald Trump called out Ohio’s capital city by name on Friday, demanding that a statue of Christopher Columbus be returned to downtown Columbus.
Speaking in the East Room of the White House just days ahead of Columbus Day, Trump said the statue should “be put back into the heart of Columbus, Ohio,” calling the explorer a hero. The federal holiday is observed in Columbus as Indigenous Peoples Day.
The statue at the center of the debate was removed from Columbus City Hall grounds more than six years ago by order of Mayor Andrew Ginther, who said the city would no longer live in the shadow of the explorer’s “ugly past.” The monument remains in storage. Columbus State Community College removed a Columbus statue around the same time in 2020, while a statue of the explorer still stands on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse.
Ginther declined to comment on the statue itself, noting it is the subject of pending litigation brought by Italian-American groups in the city. In an emailed statement, he said he and the president “clearly have different priorities,” adding that he is focused on the people who live in Columbus and the issues affecting their lives.
Trump also touted a Columbus statue he had installed in Washington earlier this year.