Donald Trump and the Columbus Statue That Could Not Find a Home

You ever have a "friend" who gets you the worst gifts? Gaudy overstatements that don't fit aesthetically? Some gifts need a shelf. This one needed a skyline. In the 1990s, a colossal Russian-made statue of Christopher Columbus went looking for an American home. Donald Trump supported putting it beside his New York development, but the proposal failed. After years of rejected plans, the monument finally rose in Puerto Rico. Columbus's long 25 year journey may highlight Russia's early efforts to cultivate Donald Trump as an asset. [1, 4]

The Moscow connection

In 1985 Donald Trump purchased a swath of Manhattan's West Side. The plans, which of course never got built, called for a huge building described as a banal hundred-and-fifty-story phallus. [2] In 1997, when construction started on a much less extravagant set of condos Trump put out the idea installing a gigantic bronzeChristopher Columbus statue six feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. Trump wanted it on his turf. The statue, originally crafted in 1992 sat idle while the Mayor of Moscow looked for recipient.

Zurab Tsereteli, a Georgian-born artist known for enormous public monuments, crafted the 360 foot bronze monstrosity. His Columbus project, called Birth of the New World, commemorated the 500th anniversary of the explorer’s first Atlantic voyage in 1492. Finding somewhere to put it proved much harder than Columbus' journey. [1During a visit to Russia in 1990, U.S. President George H. W. Bush picked one Columbus model out of three presented to him by the sculptor. In September 1994, Tsereteli and Russian President Boris Yeltsin gave a model to President Bill Clinton. Then the Soviet Union fell. After the collapse, Tsereteli, established a close relationship with Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov. That relationship brought him regular commissions for public spaces across the Russian capital. His work included the towering Peter the Great monument erected in Moscow in 1997. [3] Luzhkov would reach out to contact in New York to find a home.

Tsereteli proposed erecting the statue on Roosevelt Island in 1991, but being taller than the Statue of Liberty people hated the idea. Then in 1997, Trump wanted the statue at his West Side Yards development, also known as Riverside South. He said Moscow’s mayor had written to New York mayor Rudy Giuliani offering the work as a gift. Trump called himself “absolutely favorably disposed” toward it and described Tsereteli as “major and legit.” [2]

New York officials, including Giuliani said no. While the Statue cam as a gift the installation would cost well over ten million dollars, and people did not like the idea of a statue towering over Lady Liberty. Trump, of course, loved the idea.

A monument in search of an address

New York was one stop in a much longer search. Proposals also failed in Miami and Columbus, Ohio. Size, appearance, and the expense of erecting the sculpture repeatedly complicated its prospects. A donated monument still needed a site and someone willing to pay for its installation. [4]

The statue attracted supporters, including businessmen and local officials who hoped it could become a tourist attraction. In Columbus, Ohio, Governor George Voinovich expressed interest, but neither he nor the mayor committed public funding to erect it. Support alone did not produce a finished monument. [4]

The design also supplied an odd historical detail: Columbus stands at a ship’s wheel, even though wheels came into use long after his voyage. The sculpture’s scale made that anachronism difficult to overlook. A gigantic Wheel that never existed.[4]

The eventual landing in Puerto Rico

The monument finally found a home in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, win June 2016. The installation cost $12 million and was privately funded. To this day we do not know who covered the cost. The project also faced opposition from the United Confederation of Taíno People over its celebration of Columbus.[1]

Puerto Rico’s official tourism website describes Birth of the New World as a 350-foot statue. Its listing places the monument in Arecibo and says visitors can admire it from a distance, although the site itself is not open to the public. [5]

The statue never became the Hudson River landmark Trump had supported. Its long journey ended on another coastline, nearly a quarter-century after the anniversary it was designed to mark. Moscow’s proposed gift had found an address at last. [1, 4, 5]

Sources

[1] Sarah Cascone, Artnet News, Rejected by Six Cities But Loved by Trump, Massive Columbus Statue Comes to Puerto Rico, June 29 2016

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/zurab-tsereteli-christopher-columbus-statue-puerto-rico-508994

[2] Mark Singer, The New Yorker, Trump Solo, May 12 1997

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/05/19/trump-solo

[3] Associated Press, Georgian Russian sculptor Zurab Tsereteli known for his gigantic and controversial work dies at 91, April 22 2025

https://apnews.com/article/6ceab7961dead725f0bd6320b3c13844

[4] Wikipedia, Birth of the New World, historical overview and source references

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_of_the_New_World

[5] Discover Puerto Rico, Birth of the New World Statue, accessed October 12 2026

https://www.discoverpuertorico.com/profile/birth-new-world-statue/12526