Press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing at the White House on March 17, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
"Absolutely not," Leavitt said with a smile. "And, 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 added, nodding to how American troops liberated France from Nazi Germany's occupation in World War II.
In an address to supporters of his Public Place party on Sunday, Glucksmann told the United States, "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," Glucksmann said, garnering applause and whistles from his audience.
Glucksmann's party has posted accusations on its website that Trump is wielding power in an "authoritarian" manner and is "preparing to deliver Ukraine on a silver platter" to Russia.
In his speech, Glucksmann referenced New York poet Emma Lazarus' words about the statue, the "mighty woman with a torch" who promised a home for the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
The Statue of Liberty in New York harbor. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)
A war that erupted in 1870 between France and German states led by Prussia diverted the energies of the monument's designer, French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi.
The gift also took time to be funded, with a decision taken that the French would pay for the statue and Americans would cover the costs of its pedestal.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Transported in 350 pieces from France, the statue was officially unveiled Oct. 28, 1886.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on X: @danimwallace.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-press-secretary-says-statue-liberty-going-nowhere-replies-french-politician