Trump prefers 'Columbus Day' over 'Indigenous Peoples' Day'

Donald Trump on Wednesday defended the legacy of 15th-century explorer Christopher Columbus, who is traditionally seen as the first European to arrive in the New World and who is sometimes accused of being responsible for the genocide of indigenous Americans.

"On Monday we paid tribute to the Italian explorer who led a voyage of discovery to the New World, a gentleman known as Christopher Columbus," the US president said at the beginning of his press conference with Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

"To me it will always be called Columbus Day," he said. "Some people don't like that -- I do." Trump was referring to the city of Washington's recent decision to re-name the holiday celebrated on the second Monday of October from Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day.

The city councilman behind the name change has said Columbus, who was born in present-day Italy but sailed on behalf of Spain, "colonized, mutilated, and massacred thousands of Indigenous People in the Americas" and "never set foot on the shores of the current United States."
"I think the bonds between Italy and the United States have never been more solid," Trump said Wednesday. "I have so many Italian friends. I can't tell you how many Italian friends."