Statue of Liberté! White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Fumes French 'Should be Grateful' to U.S. They're 'Not Speaking German' After Calls for Statue of Liberty to be Returned to France
Trump's policy changes have led to calls from France to return the Statue of Liberty.
March 18 2025, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Sacré bleu! The French want Lady Liberty back.
RadarOnline.com can reveal in light of President Donald Trump's sweeping shifts away from foreign policy for a focus on domestic, one prominent French politician has slammed that the U.S. is no longer worthy of the Statue of Liberty – which was a gift from France nearly 140 years ago.
The statue was a gift of France in 1884.
But RadarOnline.com can report the French's demand is already toast back stateside.
Raphaël Glucksmann, a member of the European Parliament, made the request after he said Americans "have chosen to switch to the side of the tyrants."
He told an approving crowd in his home country: "Give us back the Statue of Liberty. It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us."
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shot down the demand.
France originally gifted the statue, which stands 305 feet tall and weighs 450,000 pounds, to the U.S. on July 4, 1884, to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural arm that has the statue on its list of World Heritage treasures, notes that the iconic monument is U.S. government property.
Late Monday night, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Glucksmann can say "au revoir" to his suggestion.
She said: "My advice to that unnamed low-level French politician would be to remind them that it’s only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now, so they should be very grateful to our great country."
She promised the statue isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Of course, this isn't the first time Trump has angered foreign allies since retaking the Oval Office.
Before he even took the oath of office in January, the president threatened to "buy" Greenland and ordered American maps to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
Speaking before his inauguration, the former reality star said: "We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory, the Gulf of America. What a beautiful name, and it’s appropriate."
He continued: "Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them, and we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers.”
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
He also took to Truth Social to call out Canada and the now former Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau in a holiday message.
Trump wrote: "... Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose citizens’ taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World."
He added: "Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes, and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!"
