Overview
- Italian American Organizations United says it owns the reconstructed statue and signed a loan agreement this week for placement at or near the south side of the White House.
- White House spokesman Davis Ingle said, “In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero,” while declining to provide logistics or a firm installation date.
- The piece is a reconstruction of a Baltimore monument unveiled by Ronald Reagan in 1984 and thrown into the Inner Harbor in 2020, rebuilt with private backing and some federal grant funding.
- Bill Martin, who helped recover and restore the statue, said it is slated to move from a warehouse on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to Washington within weeks, with a tentative site north of the Ellipse.
- The loan is described as temporary, and preservationists and critics are urging federal review as Trump pursues a wider effort to elevate Columbus and reshape federal symbols and commemorations.