by WorldTribune Staff, October 12, 2026 Non-AI Real World News President Donald Trump on Monday declared Oct.

12 as Columbus Day, not “Indigenous Peoples Day,” and recognized Christopher Columbus as “one of history’s greatest heroes.” The Trump Administration repaired the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain in DC’s Union Station earlier this year.

The fountain was reopened in May after 19 years of being left in disrepair.

Trump kicked off the Columbus Day festivities on Sunday in a Truth Social post that skewered the Left’s attempts to cancel Columbus: “HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY TO ALL, in particular our great Italian American Community which was forced to suffer as the Radical Left Dumocrats, Socialists, and Communists rampaged through our cities and towns ripping down almost all of the beautiful statues of Christopher Columbus.

Well, those days of plunder are over, and the statues are back, more magnificent than ever.

This is a big day for our great Italian American Community, and the Country of Italy itself, maybe the biggest.

Congratulations! President DONALD J.

TRUMP.” Columbus Day has been a national holiday since 1937, though it was moved to the second Monday in October in 1971.

Joe Biden issued a first-ever presidential proclamation declaring Indigenous Peoples’ Day during his first year in office.

Biden re-upped that throughout his term.

Trump on Monday issued the following proclamation: More than five centuries ago, Christopher Columbus embarked westward across uncharted waters and discovered the New World — bringing with him the rich traditions of Western civilization and paving the way to the birth of the American Nation less than three centuries later.

Today, we honor his life of valor, adventure, and ingenuity.

We cherish his memory and pledge to safeguard his story.

Above all, we remember with gratitude that the triumph of freedom and the glory of our Republic are the fruits of his faith and unrelenting devotion.

In August of 1492, Columbus departed the shores of Spain to chart a new trade route to Asia.

With his crew of about 90 men aboard the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María, for more than 2 grueling months, he pressed onward across the vast and unforgiving Atlantic Ocean — braving violent storms and treacherous waters.

Through every trial, Columbus never wavered, holding his crew to the mission when most others would have turned back.

When Columbus and his crew made landfall on the islands of the present-day Bahamas, they first believed they had reached the shores of Asia.

Instead, their voyage redrew the map of human possibility and opened a new chapter in the history of exploration.

They unleashed a bold new age of discovery that expanded the horizons of knowledge, carried the splendors of the Western world across an ocean, and set in motion the forces that would culminate in the miracle of July 4, 1776.

When they arrived, as a sign of devotion....