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Trump administration places Christopher Columbus statue on White House grounds

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Trump administration places Christopher Columbus statue on White House grounds

A statue of the explorer Christopher Columbus stands on White House grounds at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building (EEOB) in Washington, D.C., on March 23, 2026.

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The Trump administration placed a statue of Christopher Columbus on White House grounds over the weekend, doubling down on its efforts to commemorate the 15th-century explorer.

“As we celebrate our Nation’s 250th anniversary of independence, the White House is proud to honor Christopher Columbus’s legendary life and legacy with a well-deserved statue on the White House grounds,” Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. “In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he’s honored as such for generations to come.”

The statue is a replica of the one that used to sit in Baltimore’s Little Italy, according to John Pica, a Maryland lobbyist and president of the Italian American Organizations United. In 2020, after the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer and a reckoning on racial justice issues in the U.S., protesters pulled the statue down and hurled it into the city’s Inner Harbor.

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The marble statue depicted Columbus facing east towards the sun, and was dedicated by former Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer and President Ronald Reagan in October 1984.

Soon after, Pica, who also has served as a Maryland state senator, said his group hired divers to fish pieces of the statue out of the harbor. They raised money through grants and private contributions to hire a Maryland sculptor to rebuild it, Pica said.

The replica had been finished for a few years and sat in storage until Pica got a call last week that the White House wanted the statue. The statue was installed around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, he said, and it is on loan to the White House until the end of Trump’s term.

“It’s a place where it can peacefully shine and be protected,” he added.

“It’s a source of pride for Italian Americans,” Pica said. “Christopher Columbus, notwithstanding the controversy around him, is a symbol of pride and adventure for Italian Americans.”

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Pica said he understands the hesitancy around Columbus’ legacy. In a way, he said, Italian Americans are “stuck” with Columbus.

“We don’t raise a glass of wine to Christopher Columbus on Columbus Day,” Pica said. “We celebrate our heritage. We don’t have Columbus celebrations. We have Italian American celebrations and Italian heritage celebrations. It’s just Columbus happens to be the symbol.”

The statue is not the administration’s first attempt to shine a favorable light on the controversial figure.

Last year, the Trump administration issued a proclamation commemorating Columbus Day, and took a jab at people who have criticized the explorer.

“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,” the proclamation read. “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.”

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Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which is not an official federal holiday but is celebrated by cities and states across the country, previously had been recognized by the Biden administration.

Members of the public offer mixed reactions to the statue

On Monday morning, groups of schoolchildren, tourists and locals passed by the White House and offered differing opinions of the statue.

The statue wasn’t visible to the public because of construction and fences walling off the area. But when Ivone Sagastume, a first-generation Guatemalan American, heard about the new statue, she was brought to tears. To her, she said, the statue is another way the Trump administration is dividing the country.

“We as a nation have fought for unity and for respect of other cultures,” Sagastume, 35, said. “That symbol is just going to destroy that even more, it’s just destroying what this country was built on.”

Gerald Horne, a professor of history and African American studies at the University of Houston, said that reaction to the statue makes sense.

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“Statues are political statements and those who have objected to the statue of Christopher Columbus are objecting to his role in helping to ignite genocide against the Indigenous population, of being an enslaver himself,” Horne said.

Middle school history teacher Scott Silk, 57, looked out at the White House with a group of students from San Diego behind him.

“For so many people in the United States, Christopher Columbus is a symbol of racism and the oppression of native peoples,” he said.

He said if he and his students could see the statue, he would ask them to reflect on what it means.

But others, like Martha Castillo, a tourist from San Diego, Calif., said it’s important to remember American history.

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“I think it’s a good idea to have it here,” Castillo, 55, said. “This is a historic place and I think it should be here in the White House.”

Peter Diaz, 47, traveled from Miami, Fla. to explore the city’s capital. Diaz said the country has “bigger problems” than a statue.

“How many statues do we have in every city? In every state?” he said. “Are those really the issues that we care about? Don’t you think we have to think about our kids?”

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Paul Pelosi in hit-and-run in California, car left with major damage, authorities say

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Paul Pelosi in hit-and-run in California, car left with major damage, authorities say

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her husband Paul arrive at the funeral services for Clive Davis at Central Synagogue in New York, Monday, June 29, 2026.

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LOS ANGELES — The husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was involved in a hit-and-run in California that left a parked car with “major” damage authorities said Saturday, and he could face misdemeanor charges.

Paul Pelosi was driving his brown convertible Friday in Yountville, a town in the heart of wine country, when he struck a legally parked car on the side of the road, briefly stopped and then drove away, the Napa County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. No injuries were reported.

A witness saw the collision and called 911. Shortly afterward sheriff’s deputies found Pelosi with damage to the front of his car on a road roughly a quarter of a mile away. He reportedly told officers he knew he hit something but was not sure when or what caused the damage.

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Pelosi, 86, did not have any alcohol in his system, according to the statement. The sheriff’s office referred him to the Department of Motor Vehicles for a process to determine whether he may continue to drive — something that officials say is common for older drivers.

Pelosi was not arrested, and because no one was injured, the sheriff’s office recommended a misdemeanor charge for fleeing the scene of an accident.

A staffer for Nancy Pelosi did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Paul Pelosi pleaded guilty in 2022 to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence in Napa County and was sentenced to five days in jail and three years of probation. However, he served only two days in jail and received good conduct credit for two other days, leaving just one day to serve in a work program at the courthouse.

As part of his probation, Pelosi was required to attend a three-month drinking driver class and install an ignition interlock device, which forces drivers to provide a breath sample to prove sobriety before the engine will start. He also was ordered to pay about $5,000 in victim restitution for medical bills and lost wages, along with nearly $2,000 in fines.

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Crowds ordered to evacuate National Mall area as stormy weather slams DC

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Crowds ordered to evacuate National Mall area as stormy weather slams DC

The thousands of people attending the Great American State Fair and other areas around the National Mall are being ordered to evacuate as stormy weather approaches.

The National Weather Service previously announced a Severe Thunderstorm Warning in the District. Officials are asking attendees to seek shelter.

SEE ALSO: Historic Fourth of July fireworks to light up National Mall: How to watch live

The DC Homeland Security & Emergency Management released a list of places where the crowds can go to get out of the weather:

Federal Buildings:

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  • Ronald Reagan Building – 100 Pennsylvania Ave NW
  • Dept. of Commerce – 1401 Constitution Ave NW
  • Dept. of Agriculture – 1400 Independence Dr SW
  • Dept. of Education – 400 Maryland Ave SW
  • Internal Revenue Service – 1111 Constitution Ave NW
  • Voice of America – 330 Independence Ave SW
  • Thomas Jefferson Memorial – 16 E Basin Dr SW

Museums:

  • National Museum of American History – 1300 Constitution Ave NW
  • National Museum of Natural History – 1000 Constitution Ave NW
  • National Museum of African American History and Culture – 1400 Constitution Ave NW

Freedom 250 organizers released this statement:

“The safety of our guests, performers, and staff is our top priority. Due to approaching severe storms, Freedom 250, United States Secret Service, United States Park Police, National Park Service, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and all public safety partners are asking all guests to evacuate event grounds and seek temporary shelter in a nearby building. Available shelter locations include the Department of Commerce, Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, Internal Revenue Service, VOA Building, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, National Museum of American History, National Museum of Natural History, the African American Museum, and the Ronald Reagan Building. Please remain calm, follow the directions of law enforcement and event staff, and stay tuned to Freedom 250’s official channels for updates. Freedom 250 will share updates on programming and doors reopening — please stay close to our official channels for updates.”

The Secret Service said they have suspended screening on the National Mall.

“Security screening on the National Mall has been suspended due to dangerous storms,” the Secret Service said. “If you are already on the grounds, follow directions from officers and event staff and move to shelter immediately. Do not shelter under trees.”

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Metro riders are also asked to seek shelter. Commuters should expect heavy crowds at stations near the National Mall and are asked to consider using L’Enfant Plaza, Metro Center, Archives, Federal Triangle or Federal Center SW stations to avoid congestion.

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Reflections on America’s 250th birthday

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Reflections on America’s 250th birthday

The nation’s capital may be the focal point of the 250th Independence Day celebration, but people all across America have plans to mark the occasion, from boisterous public parades to quiet personal reflections on history.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP


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Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

As the United States turns 250 years old, Americans across the country are spending the holiday thinking about what the big birthday means to them, with reflections and celebrations as diverse as the nation itself.

NPR’s member station reporters fanned out to collect snapshots of the occasion from sea to shining sea.

In one ‘City of Presidents,’ Main Street is decorated for a party

At least two cities in the U.S.call themselves the “City of Presidents” and Cuba City, in Wisconsin, is one of them, largely due to its patriotic Main Street decorations. Every year from Memorial Day through Veteran’s Day, red, white, and blue shields, one for each U.S. president, are prominently displayed high up on the light poles lining Main Street.

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It’s a tradition that began in 1976 to commemorate the country’s bicentennial, says Donna Rogers, who is president of the ongoing project but admitted that when it first started, she wasn’t particularly tuned-in to the display.

“I was raising three little boys and working at John Deere, so I didn’t really pay too much attention to community service at that time,” she said.

Donna Rogers shows off one of Cuba City's presidential lampposts.

Donna Rogers shows off one of Cuba City’s presidential lampposts.

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A few years later, she was tapped to help keep the initiative alive.

When she thinks of the country’s history, she says the signing of the Declaration of Independence and abolition of slavery top her list, plus a current event–

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“Of course, now, our nation’s 250th birthday. I think those three would be the three most important things in history to me,” she said, quickly adding “[the] right for women to vote, don’t forget that, right?”

Rogers and Cuba City are pulling out all the stops for the 250th, with a parade and a mac-and-cheese festival, because “that was some of our founding fathers favorite foods, along with turkey and cranberries and other items.”

She laughed and admitted she googled that. True or not, Rogers says they’ll go all-out to celebrate the 250th in her “City of Presidents”.

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