President Donald Trump marked the 2025 Columbus Day holiday with a fiery proclamation that celebrated Christopher Columbus as “the original American hero” while rejecting Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the growing alternative observance that honors Native communities impacted by European colonization.
Trump accused what he called “left-wing arsonists” of “destroying and dishonoring” Columbus’s legacy, vowing to reclaim the holiday as a federal celebration. “Today our Nation honors the legendary Christopher Columbus — the original American hero, a giant of Western civilization,” he wrote. “We pledge to reclaim his extraordinary legacy of faith, courage, perseverance, and virtue from the left-wing arsonists who have sought to destroy his name and dishonor his memory.”
The proclamation revisited the cultural clashes surrounding Columbus statues and monuments during the 2020 racial justice protests, when several were removed or defaced alongside Confederate memorials. Trump promised that under his leadership, “those days are finally over,” declaring that the nation would “abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero.”
Columbus, an Italian explorer sailing for Spain, reached the Caribbean islands in 1492, opening the way for European colonization. His voyages also brought devastating consequences for Indigenous peoples, including disease, mass enslavement, and deportation. Most historians note that Columbus never set foot in North America; Spanish conquistadors who followed instituted the encomienda system, which forced Native populations into brutal labor conditions.
In the proclamation, Trump also praised Italian-American contributions to U.S. culture and history, signing the document on Oct. 9 with the declaration, “We’re back, Italians.”
His approach stands in sharp contrast to his predecessor, President Joe Biden, who was the first U.S. president to formally commemorate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Biden’s past proclamations highlighted Native nations’ resilience, self-governance, and cultural survival despite centuries of oppression.
Trump concluded his message by urging Americans to “follow [Columbus’s] example” more than 500 years after his arrival, casting his legacy as central to America’s identity — a position that continues to sharply divide public opinion each October.
Source: People