View of the statue of Civil War era Confederate General Albert Pike in Washington, DC, on Ocober 28, 2025.

A Confederate leader’s statue is back up in Washington, DC, following President Donald Trump’s directive to restore such monuments earlier this year.

The move comes after Trump called on Doug Burgum, the current interior secretary, to review “public monuments, memorials, statues, markers, or similar properties” that have been changed or removed since January 2020. His March executive order urged Burgum to investigate whether these actions were taken to allegedly perpetuate a “false reconstruction of American history” or “minimise the value of certain historical events or figures.”

The statue’s return also adds to Trump’s efforts to roll back actions that denounced Confederate leaders and their support for slavery. This past summer, Trump restored the names of nine Army bases that once honoured Confederate generals as well.

The statue, which commemorates Confederate General Albert Pike, has long been a source of controversy, and was pulled down and burned during Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd in June........

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