President Trump marked Columbus Day by casting Christopher Columbus as a hero whose 1492 voyage made the United States possible, and by accusing the political left of trying to erase him from the national story.
In remarks carried by the White House rapid response account, the president described a voyage undertaken with no modern safeguards. "With just around 90 men, he sailed into the unknown with an accurate map," Trump said, adding that Columbus "had no weather forecast" and "there was no way of calling for help."
The president recounted the moment the expedition nearly ended. "When Columbus's crew begged him to turn back, it's too scary. The water was too rough. The ship can't take it. But he pushed onward, discovered the new world," Trump said.
'A hero'
Trump told the audience the administration's view of Columbus is settled. "In this administration, we know that Christopher Columbus is to us. He's a hero. He's a hero," he said.
He also claimed credit, alongside allies in the room, for restoring the explorer's standing. "I feel that I, with some of the people in this room, we resurrected Christopher Columbus," Trump said, recalling a time when "you couldn't even say his name."
The president pointed to a statue of Columbus standing in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, across the street from the White House. "Everyone loves it," he said.
Trump tied the observance to the current state of the country, drawing a contrast with the previous administration. "And just so the record, it's much better now than it was two years ago. We have the hottest country anywhere in the world," he said, describing the Biden years as a time when "we were a dead country. I don't think we would have survived another year."
Trump: 'They want to abolish Columbus Day'
The president said the attacks on Columbus are part of a broader campaign against the nation's heritage. "American patriots have always revered and respected this great Italian explorer," Trump said, calling him "perhaps the first ever, Italian American."
"Yet, as you know, the Radical Left communists hate Columbus and they want to abolish Columbus Day," he said. "They want to tear down the history and heritage that makes us who we are, not only Columbus."
Trump listed other figures he said the left has targeted. "We had a time when they wanted to rip down the statue of Abraham Lincoln," he said. "They wanted to rip down Thomas Jefferson's memorial. I was there, actually, and I signed a law that was a very powerful law."
He also noted efforts to strip names from schools. "George Washington, they've taken the name of George Washington off schools," Trump said. "But these are different days now. You know, we don't do that anymore."
The president closed that line of argument with a promise of protection. "We protect Lincoln, we protect Washington, we protect Thomas Jefferson," he said.
