President Trump kicked off his Cabinet meeting Thursday by signing a proclamation honoring Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus – declaring, “We’re back, Italians.”
The proclamation calls for Oct. 13 to be observed as Columbus Day, despite ongoing efforts in several states and cities to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day and not the man credited for centuries of having discovered America.
“Columbus Day — we’re back, Italians,” Trump declared after signing the proclamation.
“We love the Italians,” the president added.
Before Trump signed the proclamation, White House staff secretary Will Scharf noted that Columbus Day, which has been a federal holiday since 1971, is a “particularly important holiday for Italian Americans who celebrate the legacy of Christopher Columbus, and the innovation and explorer zeal that he represented.”
Trump summed up Scharf’s explanation of the document by saying, “In other words, we’re calling it Columbus Day.”
The remark drew a round of applause from Trump’s Cabinet members, and, according to the president, some in the press.
“That was the press that broke out in applause,” Trump claimed. “I’ve never seen that happen.”
“The press actually broke out in applause. Good.”
The proclamation read, “Our Nation will now abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination.”
Former President Joe Biden issued the first-ever presidential proclamation of Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021 – a proclamation he would issue every October of his presidency – which boosted efforts to refocus the October holiday.
Columbus Day critics argue that the Italian hero was not the first foreign explorer to land in the Americas, and that the arrival of Europeans into the New World resulted in devastating loss of life, land and tradition for Native Americans. Thus, they claim, Columbus should not be celebrated.
“Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been a prime target of a vicious and merciless campaign to erase our history, slander our heroes, and attack our heritage,” Trump’s proclamation reads. “Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals toppled his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his character, and sought to exile him from our public spaces.”
“Under my leadership, those days are finally over — and our Nation will now abide by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and every citizen is eternally indebted to his relentless determination.”
