By Molly Goddard
2:36am PDT, Mar 19, 2025
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White House Press Secretary
Karoline Leavitt continues to be a straight shooter in media briefings.
During her Monday, March 17, meeting with reporters, the member of President
Donald Trump's administration slammed a French politician's request for the United States to return the Statue of Liberty due to the Republican leader's strict stance on immigration.
Keep reading to see what Leavitt had to say about the request…MORE:
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French politician
Raphaël Glucksmann recently condemned Donald Trump and his right-wing policies by asking the
United States to give back the gift they received from France in 1886.
"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 said, according to
Le Monde. "It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us."
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Karoline Leavitt shut down Raphaël Glucksmann's comments with quite the zinger: "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 said, referring to World War II.
The New Hampshire native's candid remark drew gasps from the journalists in the press room.
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The Statue of Liberty — which is located in
New York City — was a token of celebration of America's independence when it was given by the French and is still a symbol of people who come from other countries looking for a better life.
Raphaël Glucksmann later took to X to clarify his comments about returning the State of Liberty to France: "No one, of course, will come and steal the Statue of Liberty," he wrote. "The statue is yours. But what it embodies belongs to everyone."
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Raphaël Glucksmann has not shied away from expressing his views on Donald Trump. The member of the European Parliament also condemned the businessman for the mass firings of government employees as part of Department of Government Efficiency (
DOGE) cost cuts.
"The second thing we're going to say to the Americans is: 'If you want to fire your best researchers, if you want to fire all the people who, through their freedom and their sense of innovation, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world's leading power, then we're going to welcome them,'" he said.
