White House Dismisses French Request For Statue Of Liberty Return

The White House has firmly rejected calls from a French politician to return the Statue of Liberty to France, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt offering a blunt response during a briefing yesterday, Cape town Etc reports.

When asked about remarks made by French MEP Raphael Glucksmann, who suggested the statue should be returned to France because it no longer represented American values, Leavitt didn't hold back.

'Absolutely not,' she declared. '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.'

Glucksmann's statement, made the day before, included the provocative remark: 'Give us back the Statue of Liberty. It was our gift to you, but apparently, you despise her.' The statue, a gift from France to the US in 1886, remains a symbol of freedom and hope, although Glucksmann's call has sparked a diplomatic stir.

Leavitt, in turn, reminded France to be grateful for Americas historic role in World War II. While the legal and diplomatic implications of such a demand are unlikely to affect US-France relations seriously, the political tension between leaders such as Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron could make this an interesting point of contention.