By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-17 01:46:36 | Updated at 2025-03-17 06:27:15
5 hours ago
A French politician has called on the United States to return the Statue of Liberty which was gifted 140 years ago as a sign of friendship between the two nations.
French Socialist MEP Raphaël Glucksmann said President Trump's decision to 'side with the tyrants' warranted his request.
The left-wing politician was seemingly referring to Trump's position on the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Speaking at a party convention, Glucksmann told the crowd: '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."
'We gave it to you as a gift, but apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.'
The French gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States back in 1884, and it was unveiled in New York just two years later in 1886.
Since then, it has become synonymous with the city and is a major tourist attraction.
European nations responded with horror upon Trump's decision to suspend military funding for Ukraine amid tense peace negotiations with Russia, facilitated by the United States.
French Socialist MEP Raphaël Glucksmann said President Trump's decision to 'side with the tyrants' warranted his request
Speaking at a party convention, Glucksmann told the crowd he believes some Americans have chosen to side with the tyrants
The situation exploded during a meeting at the White House between Trump and Ukrainian leader Voloymyr Zelensky.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance hosted Zelensky with the intention of signing a minerals deal which would grant the United States access to key Ukrainian resources in exchange for the past and ongoing military aid to help fight the Russian invasion.
However, the meeting imploded and was abruptly ended, with the US leader and his VP criticising Zelensky for failing to show enough gratitutde for the tens of billions of dollars America has already funneled into the war.
After the meeting, Trump introduced the freeze on all funding and some intelligence sharing.
Glucksmann is a staunch defender of Ukraine, making the issue the number one priority of his 2024 campaign.
He is the son of a French philosopher and was raised against the privileged cosmopolitan near Paris.
In 2014, he described himself as a 'revoluation consultant', writing and crafting speeches for boxer turned mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko.
At the time, Glucksmann was living in Ukraine.
The left-wing politician was seemingly referring to Trump's position on the Ukraine-Russia conflict
Before the statue was shipped across the Atlantic, it was fully assembled in a public park in Paris, to test how the structure would hold up. During those years, Parisians affectionately referred to the sculpture as the 'Lady of the Park'. Pictured, the Statue of Liberty towering over rooftops in Paris after it was first completed in 1884.
During the same controversial speech as the Statue of Liberty remark, Glucksmann issued a second message directly to Americans.
'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.
There have long been quips about whether France would ever formally request the Statue of Liberty be returned, or if the Trump administration admires what she stands for.
One Reddit user recently said: 'There's maybe $230,000 worth of scrap copper in there. I'm surprised DOGE hasn't had it melted down yet.'
Billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficience has been tasked with rooting out wasteful spending.
Another said: 'In that scenario I think Trump would say ''Sure. It's yours. Come pick it up. We are going to start charging you a $1 billion/day warehouse fee staring tomorrow''.'
Trump and French President Emmanual Macron enjoyed a widely-reported bromance during Trump's first term.
Photographs of them holding hands and grinning in the White House Rose Garden accompanied every story about U.S.-French relations.
'He is perfect,' Trump said in 2018.
And after winning the 2024 race to return to the White House, Trump doubled down on his admiration of France, describing the nation as 'our oldest ally, and one of our greatest.'
Even when tensions were high, as they were then over keeping the U.S. in the Iran nuclear deal, their personal chemistry kept the diplomacy ticking over.
Macron had impressed Trump with the full military pomp of the Bastille Day parade, which encouraged the American president to think about having his own display of armed might.
So Macron was considered the perfect messenger from Europe to travel to the White House in an effort last month to gently remind Trump that Russian aggression threatened much more than just Ukraine.
'I think a lot of progress has been made. We've had some very good talks,' Trump said after the meeting. 'We're trying to get the war ended.'
The friendship between the United States and France dates back to 1778. France was the first nation to develop diplomatic ties with America.
But there have been several clashes in recent memory. The US and France clashed over the handling of the Iraq war in 2003 and during the Civil War.
