Trump Sends Copy of Sitka Icon to Russian Orthodox Monastery

Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts Rodney Mims Cook Jr. and Abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Hermitage Monastery, Hegumen Varlaam Pereverzev. Photo: tass.ru

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA — A copy of the Sitka Icon of the Mother of God was presented to the Holy Trinity–St. Sergius Primorsky Hermitage in Strelna near St. Petersburg as a gift from U.S. President Donald Trump, according to Rodney Mims Cook Jr., chairman of the U.S. Federal Commission on Fine Arts and founder of the National Monuments Fund.

Cook said Trump suggested the donation as a reciprocal gesture following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2025 visit to Alaska, during which Putin presented icons to Abp. Alexei of Sitka and Alaska. Speaking to TASS, Cook said he was deeply moved by that event and carried out the presentation in Russia at Trump’s request.

The gift was a copy of the Sitka Icon of the Mother of God, one of the most venerated Orthodox icons in North America. The original icon is housed at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Sitka, Alaska, and is regarded by many Orthodox faithful as miraculous. By sending a copy of the icon to Russia, Trump sought to mirror the earlier gift made by Putin to the Alaskan Church, according to Cook.

Cook made the presentation while visiting St. Petersburg, where he is expected to attend the 2026 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. He described the exchange as a meaningful personal and spiritual gesture linking Orthodox Christians in Alaska and Russia.

Previously, the UOJ reported that the Ecumenical Patriarch sent a prayerful letter to Trump.

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