The Trump administration has reinstalled a Confederate statue in downtown Washington, D.C., that protesters toppled and burned during the 2020 George Floyd riots.
The National Park Service (NPS) restored the statue of Confederate Gen. Albert Pike to its original location at Third and D streets NW over the weekend, the Washington Post reported. The nearly 30-foot monument now stands behind chain-link security fencing with National Park Police officers standing guard.
The restoration follows President Donald Trump’s spring executive order creating the “D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force.” The order called for restoring federal monuments “that have been damaged or defaced, or inappropriately removed or changed, in recent years.”
Rioters tore down the Pike statue on June 19, 2020, using ropes and chains before setting it on fire. D.C. police officers watched but did not intervene, according to the Washington Post. The incident occurred weeks after George Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests and riots that led to the removal of about 90 Confederate monuments across the country. (RELATED: California Officials Remove Iconic Rest Stop Statue Of Father Junípero Serra)
D.C.’s only outdoor statue of a Confederate soldier is making its return to Judiciary Square. https://t.co/WVRln3YyeY
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) October 28, 2025
Trump blasted D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and police at the time for failing to protect the statue. “They ripped down a statue that was 110 years old. Beautiful piece of art. In front of a police precinct with our radical left mayor watching on television,” Trump said at an Oklahoma rally. “We’re not happy. That’s going to be very expensive for D.C.”
Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton called the reinstallation “morally objectionable” on Monday.
“Confederate statues should be placed in museums as historical artifacts, not remain in parks or other locations that imply honor,” Norton said in a post.
The statue depicts Pike in civilian clothes rather than Confederate uniform. Washington Freemasons erected it in 1901 to honor Pike’s role in their society.
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