The White House has launched a new website dedicated to the figure of Christopher Columbus on the occasion of Columbus Day, which is celebrated on October 11. This initiative comes after the U.S. president, Donald Trump, reinstated in 2025 the exclusive commemoration of this holiday, which during Joe Biden's administration coincided on the same date with Indigenous Peoples' Day.
On the website, Trump defines Columbus as "The original American hero, a giant of Western civilization, and one of the bravest and most visionary men who walked on the face of the earth," in a message that accompanies photographs and various graphics generated by Artificial Intelligence that recreate the life journey of the Genoese navigator.
Additionally, the White House has disseminated a message on social media emphasizing that "Christopher Columbus was a hero," along with a link to the new portal. "Sail on. Columbus Day is back," adds the publication, referring to Trump's decision to reinstate the holiday after the changes introduced by Biden, of the Democratic Party.
The website compiles essential information about Columbus's biography and includes an infographic detailing the itinerary of his expedition until his arrival, on October 12, 1492, at the island of Guanahaní, later renamed San Salvador and now part of the Bahamas archipelago.
Trump also shared on Sunday a congratulatory message for Columbus Day, with a special mention to the "Italian American community" for what it was "forced to suffer" when, especially in previous years, anti-racist activists, indigenous movements, and other anti-colonial groups toppled or damaged various statues and monuments dedicated to Columbus and other historical figures during protests.
The Republican leader announced in 2025 the "recovery" of 'Columbus Day' — a holiday recognized at the federal level in the United States since 1971 — after a wave of demonstrations that included attacks and vandalism against monuments linked to the colonization of America and to the country's founding and slaveholding past.
Biden, Trump's predecessor in the White House, did not formally eliminate Columbus Day, but promoted the simultaneous celebration of Indigenous Peoples' Day on that same date. On other occasions, the Republican leader has proclaimed himself a defender of the "American way of life that began with Christopher Columbus."