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Donald Trump has claimed he is reinstating the annual Columbus Day holiday in the US, but nobody ever stopped marking it.
On Sunday, US president Trump said he plans to reinstate Columbus Day as a federal holiday, despite the fact that it is already a federal holiday.
However, Columbus Day has, as of last year, been replaced in more than 200 cities and in several states across the country by Indigenous Peoples’ Day, according to Axios.
Both holidays take place annually on the second Monday in October, with Columbus Day marking the anniversary of the arrival of the explorer Christopher Columbus in the Americas in 1492.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “I’m bringing Columbus Day back from the ashes. The Democrats did everything possible to destroy Christopher Columbus, his reputation, and all of the Italians that love him so much.”
“They tore down his Statues, and put up nothing but ‘WOKE,’ or even worse, nothing at all! Well, you'll be happy to know, Christopher is going to make a major comeback,” he claimed.
Beginning in the 1990s, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, celebrated on the same day, has gained momentum as a counter-celebration, given Columbus’ controversial history of colonisation and genocide of indigenous communities.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is an official city and state holiday in various locations across the US, but is not a recognised holiday under US federal law. It was commemorated with a presidential proclamation for the first time by former US president Joe Biden in 2021. These continued in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
By contrast, in Columbus Day proclamations from his first term, Trump never mentioned Indigenous Peoples’ Day by name.
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