Trump presents copy of Sitka Icon of Theotokos to monastery near St. Petersburg

Chairman of the United States Commission of Fine Arts Rodney Mims Cook Jr. and the abbot of the monastery, Hegumen Varlaam. Photo: TASS.

On June 2, 2026, the Chairman of the USA Commission of Fine Arts Rodney Mims Cook Jr., at the personal initiative of Donald Trump, presented a copy of the miraculous Sitka Icon of the Mother of God to the abbot of the Holy Trinity Sergius Coastal Hermitage, Hegumen Varlaam. This is reported by TASS.

Rodney Mims Cook Jr. said that this act was a response to Vladimir Putin's visit to Anchorage in 2025. At that time, the head of state presented as a gift to the Orthodox community of Alaska an icon of Saint Herman, an early Russian missionary widely considered the patron saint of Orthodoxy in America. "I was deeply moved by President Putin's visit to Alaska," Cook Jr. shared details. "President Trump suggested that I 'return' this gesture here."

The Sitka Icon of the Mother of God is permanently located at St. Michael's Cathedral in the city of Sitka, USA, and is considered miraculous. Now a copy of this unique shrine has found its home in the Holy Trinity Sergius Coastal Hermitage. The American official admitted that his visit to Saint Petersburg and participation in the presentation of the icon became a very personal event for him.

As the UOJ reported, a US congresswoman visited an Orthodox church in Florida.

Read also