On October 9, 2025, President Donald Trump reignited a long-simmering national debate by signing a presidential proclamation at the White House, officially reinstating Columbus Day as a federal holiday. The move, made in the presence of officials such as Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth, marks a sharp reversal of the dual holiday observance established in recent years, when both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day were recognized by the federal government. Now, as Monday, October 13, 2025, approaches, Americans are once again being asked to choose sides in a cultural contest that shows no sign of cooling off.
Trump’s proclamation is clear in both its intent and its rhetoric. According to NBC Bay Area and other outlets, the president described Christopher Columbus as “a true American hero” and “the original American hero,” crediting the 15th-century Italian explorer with paving the way for the “ultimate triumph of Western civilization.” Trump’s statement, as reported by the Trump War Room and echoed in documents released by the White House, is unambiguous: “Columbus Day—we’re back, Italians!” he declared, holding the signed proclamation aloft for the cameras.
The president’s proclamation is more than symbolic. It directs that the American flag be displayed on all public and federal buildings across the United States on October 13, in honor of Christopher Columbus and those who, in Trump’s words, “have contributed to building our Nation.” The document also takes direct aim at what Trump calls a “left-wing political campaign” to defame Columbus, referencing the removal of statues and the renaming of holidays as evidence of an ongoing attempt to “erase our history, defame our heroes, and attack our heritage.”
“Outrageously, in recent years, Christopher Columbus has been the primary target of a ruthless campaign to erase our history, defame our heroes, and attack our heritage. Before our very eyes, left-wing radicals tore down his statues, vandalized his monuments, tarnished his reputation, and sought to exile him from our public spaces. Under my leadership, those days are finally over, and our nation will now be governed by a simple truth: Christopher Columbus was a true American hero, and all citizens are eternally indebted to his relentless determination,” the proclamation reads.
Trump’s decision effectively ends the dual recognition that began under President Barack Obama and was expanded by President Joe Biden. In October 2021, Biden became the first president to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the federal level, describing it as a day to honor the “struggles and resilience” of Native communities and to acknowledge the “right to exist” and ongoing contributions of Indigenous peoples in the United States. But with a stroke of the pen, Trump’s administration has reversed that recognition, ensuring that, for at least this year, only Columbus Day will appear on the federal calendar.
The reaction has been swift and deeply divided, especially in places like California, where the debate over which holiday should be celebrated is particularly heated. In San Jose’s Little Italy, for example, community members expressed a range of views to NBC Bay Area. Some, like Italian American Heritage Foundation Manager Stanley Olivar, welcomed the renewed recognition of Columbus: “We’ve put Columbus in the background for too long, that we sort of lost his significance in American history and world history,” Olivar said. He added, however, that “no one person can speak for an entire community,” acknowledging the diversity of opinion even among Italian Americans.
Others, particularly those representing Indigenous communities, see Trump’s proclamation as a painful setback. A spokesperson for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, a Bay Area Native American group, told NBC Bay Area they were “deeply disappointed” by the president’s decision. “Native Americans have never left our ancestral homelands, Columbus did not discover America, and reverting the name undermines the progress Native Americans and Indigenous people have made in California and throughout our nation,” the spokesperson said.
The controversy over Columbus Day versus Indigenous Peoples’ Day is not new. Columbus Day was first recognized as a federal holiday in 1934, established by a joint resolution of Congress, and was later modified in 1968 to be observed on the second Monday of October. Over the past decade, dozens of states and cities have shifted away from Columbus Day, choosing instead to honor Indigenous peoples and their histories. Statues of Columbus have been removed from public spaces—including a 3-ton Italian marble statue in San Jose, which was relocated to the Italian American Heritage Foundation after being vandalized and targeted by activists in 2018.
Trump’s proclamation, however, signals a return to traditional observance and a clear assertion of his administration’s cultural and political priorities. The document even highlights U.S.–Italy relations and shared values of “faith, family, and freedom,” and pledges to continue the “legacy of faith” established by Columbus through the evangelization of Indigenous communities and the rise of Western civilization. For many of Trump’s supporters, especially within Italian-American organizations, the move is seen as a restoration of cultural pride and a much-needed defense of national heritage.
Yet for critics, the decision is a step backward—a denial of the painful history associated with colonization and a dismissal of the voices that have fought for greater recognition of Indigenous experiences. Advocacy groups have already signaled plans to protest the proclamation, and the debate is expected to intensify in the coming days, both in the Bay Area and across the country.
Administration officials have stated that no further policy changes are planned beyond the holiday declaration, but the implications of Trump’s move are likely to linger. The holiday dispute, reignited once again, underscores that in America’s battle over history, even the calendar is a battleground. As Monday approaches, communities across the nation will face a familiar question: Whose history gets to be celebrated, and whose stories are left in the shadows?
One thing is certain—this year, the second Monday of October will not pass quietly. Whether marked by the waving of flags, the telling of family stories, or the gathering of protests, Columbus Day 2025 will be remembered as a flashpoint in the ongoing national conversation about heritage, memory, and the meaning of America itself.
