President Donald Trump signed a proclamation on Oct. 9 recognizing Oct. 13 as Columbus Day in honor of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.
“Columbus Day, we’re back, Italians. We love the Italians,” Trump said after signing the proclamation at the White House.
This marks a departure from President Joe Biden’s practice since 2021 of issuing dual proclamations that observed both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 13.
In his proclamation, Trump hailed Columbus—whose 1492 expedition from Spain reached the Caribbean and marked the beginning of sustained European exploration and colonization of the Americas—as “the original American hero” and “a giant of Western civilization.”…