Trump isn’t taking any nonsense. All of his appointments have been instructed to do the same.
Now the White House Press Secretary ended this politician’s career with these two words.
A Fiery Retort from the White House
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t mince words Monday when she clapped back at a French lawmaker’s suggestion that France should reclaim the Statue of Liberty from the U.S. over the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
During the daily press briefing, Leavitt took a bold swing, delivering a history lesson with bite.
“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,” she declared.
“So they should be very grateful to our great country.”
The room filled with audible gasps from reporters, stunned by her pointed World War II reference.
The French Provocation
The drama kicked off with Raphaël Glucksmann, a left-wing French politician, who aired his grievances in an interview with Le Monde.
He argued that France should take back the Statue of Liberty—the iconic gift his country gave to the U.S.—now standing tall on New York City’s Liberty Island.
“We’re going to say to the Americans who have chosen to side with the tyrants, to the Americans who fired researchers for demanding scientific freedom: ‘Give us back the Statue of Liberty,’” Glucksmann told the outlet.
He doubled down at a convention of his left-leaning party, Place Publique, adding, “We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.” His words sparked a transatlantic spat, but not everyone’s buying his grand gesture.
A Monument Rooted in History
Glucksmann’s call might stir headlines, but UNESCO—the United Nations’ cultural arm, which lists the statue as a World Heritage treasure—makes it clear: the Statue of Liberty is U.S. government property.
It’s not going anywhere. Originally, the monument was a powerful symbol of friendship between France and America, dreamed up to mark the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
That vision hit roadblocks, though. The Franco-Prussian War erupted in 1870, sidelining its designer, French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, as conflict consumed his homeland. Funding was another hurdle: France agreed to bankroll the statue itself, while Americans footed the bill for its pedestal.
Shipped in 350 pieces across the Atlantic, the Statue of Liberty was finally unveiled on October 28, 1886—a testament to resilience and alliance that’s now at the center of this latest diplomatic dust-up.
