The White House has no plans to return the Statue of Liberty to France.
“Absolutely not,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a televised press briefing on Monday, March 17. “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.”
Leavitt, 27, was responding to a reporter who read a quote from French member of the European Parliament Raphaël Glucksmann.
On Sunday, March 16, the politician, 45, said he “does not think that the U.S. represents the values of the Statue of Liberty anymore.”
Though Leavitt did not go into further detail on Monday, her comments were seemingly a reference to America and France working as allies in World War II against Nazi Germany.
“They should be grateful,” Leavitt said of France.
During Glucksmann’s speech Sunday, he said, “Give us back the Statue of Liberty,” the Associated Press reported.
“It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us,” Glucksmann added.
The statue was officially unveiled on Oct. 28, 1886 in New York, gifted to America as “a symbol of freedom, inspiration, and hope,” according to the monument’s official website.
“Her crown representing light with its spikes evoking sun rays extending out to the world; the tablet, inscribed with July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals, noting American independence; to symbolize the end of slavery, Bartholdi placed a broken shackle and chains at the Statue’s foot,” the website adds.
It is unlikely that France would be able to enforce Glucksmann’s request since the monument is property of the U.S. government, notes Politico.
Additionally, the outlet notes that such a demand could strain the relationship between President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Macron, 47, visited the Oval Office for a Feb. 24 meeting with Trump, 78, where the two presidents discussed Russia and Ukraine’s three-year war — with a focus on resolving which country is responsible financially for supplying aid to Ukraine.
“I support the idea to have Ukraine, first, being compensated because they are the ones who have [lost] a lot of their fellow citizen[s], and they’re being destroyed by these attacks,” Macron said.
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Trump hit back, “Just so you understand, Europe is loaning the money to Ukraine. They get their money back.”
The two disagreed over amounts owed, with Trump eventually saying, “If you believe that, it’s okay with me.”
While discussing Russia, Macron later told Fox News, “We want peace. And I think the initiative of President Trump is a very positive one.”
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