‘Apparently you despise her': French official demands US give back Statue of Liberty after 140 years
Raphaël Glucksmann, a member of the European Parliament, made the remarks at a convention of the Place Publique center-left movement Sunday.
"Give us back the Statue of Liberty," said Glucksmann, according to Agence France-Presse. "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.''
France gifted the statue, which stands at 305 feet tall and weighs 450,000 lbs, to the U.S. on July 4, 1884, to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The sculpture, created by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, currently sits on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. There is a replica of the statue in the Seine river in Paris.
The U.S. likely would not have won the Revolutionary War had it not been for financial backing from the European nation. The U.S. did not return the favor when the French Revolution began in 1789.
Glucksmann, a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, is a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
Since his inauguration, President Donald Trump has berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office and suggested Ukraine started the war even though Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Zelensky was ultimately asked to leave the White House last month following the meeting.
"We gave it to you as a gift,' Glucksmann continued, citing the United States' founding values of freedom and liberty. 'But apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.'
During a White House briefing Monday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the U.S. would 'absolutely not' send the statue back to France.
'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,' added Leavitt, pointing to U.S. military assistance during World War II after Nazi Germany seized France.
Glucksmann concluded his remarks by stating France would welcome top researchers who had been fired in the cuts to the National Institutes of Health and similar organizations.
"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.''
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
It's Liberation Day III - and from today, dozens of countries will face painful Trump tariffs
It is "Liberation Day" III - the third tariff deadline set by Donald Trump. From today, countries without bilateral trade agreements face reciprocal tariffs - ranging from 25% to 50% - with a baseline of 15% to 20% for any not making a deal. He has delayed twice, from April to July and from July to August, but hammered this date home in his trademark caps-on style: "THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED. A BIG DAY FOR AMERICA!!!" "Will not be extended" for anyone but Mexico, it seems. The country secured a 90-day extension at the last minute, with Mr Trump citing the "complexities" of the border. By close of business on the eve of deadline, he had a handful of framework deals - some significant - including the UK (10%), the EU, Japan and South Korea (15%), Indonesia and the Philippines (19%), Vietnam (20%). On the EU agreement, which he struck in Scotland, the president said: "It's a very powerful deal, it's a big deal, it's the biggest of all the deals." But what happened to the "90 deals in 90 days" touted by the White House earlier this year? The short answer is they were replaced by letters of instruction to pay a tariff set by the US. Amid of flurry of late activity, the US played hardball with major trading partners like Canada. "For the rest of the world, we're going to have things done by Friday," said US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick - the "rest of the world" meaning everyone but China. There is, apparently, the "framework of a deal" between the world's two largest economies, but talks between Washington and Beijing are continuing. Read more US news: In terms of wins, he can claim some significant deals and point to his tariffs having generated an impressive $27bn (£20.4bn) in June, not bad for a single month. But the legality of the approach is under siege - with the US Court of International Trade ruling that the "Liberation Day" tariffs exceeded the president's authority, with enforcement paused pending appeal. The deadline has stirred the pot, forcing a handful of deals onto the table. Whether they stick or survive legal scrutiny is far from settled. But the playbook remains the same - threaten the world with trade chaos, whittle it down, celebrate the wins, and pray no one checks what's legal.
CNBC
7 minutes ago
- CNBC
CNBC Daily Open: Trump's (new) new tariff rates are here (again)
The first time U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his "reciprocal" tariffs on the rest of the world, the April 2 event had a cinematic, even grand, quality. It took place at the White House Rose Garden. There was a live band playing, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trump hoisted huge physical charts of his tariff rates, which were helpfully color-coded for visual clarity. This time, Trump's updated "reciprocal" tariffs, released the night before they come into effect on Aug. 1, seemed in comparison stripped of pomp and glamor. The White House's executive order popped up around 7 p.m. ET, just as people in the U.S. were getting off work. There was no live event, no big chart and certainly no entertainment — just a stern website with a black-and-white table. That austerity — and, one might even say, stealth — surrounding the recent announcement suggests two things. First, the White House could be aware that the dramatic shock of tariffs has less power to sway trade deals when staged a second time. The "90 deals in 90 days" that trade advisor Peter Navarro had promised in April are, after all, nowhere in sight. Second, the U.S. might actually be fine not making trade deals with some countries, leaving them with higher-than-hoped-for tariffs. In June, the U.S. Treasury Department reported an unexpected surplus thanks to tariff revenue, which were more than four times higher from a year ago. And economists aren't as alarmed by tariff-driven inflation as they once were. All that's speculation, of course. Little else is known about the latest tariffs except the numbers — it's been barely two hours since they were out and there have been no other official communication thus far. The order could have been released in this low-key fashion simply because the Rose Garden is now more like a Concrete Path. Or perhaps Trump doesn't want the penguins on the Heard and McDonald islands to hear about his levies this time. The U.S. rejigs tariff rates ahead of Aug. 1 deadline. Trump's executive order imposed tariffs ranging from 10% to 41% on dozens of countries, and subjected all goods considered to have been transhipped to an additional 40% duty. The S&P 500 falls, retreating from an intraday high. Microsoft shares, however, rose around 4% to push the company's market cap above $4 trillion. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.75% amid a flurry of earnings from companies such as Rolls-Royce and AB InBev. Apple beats expectations for profit and revenue. The Cupertino-based company's iPhone sales grew 13% year over year, while overall revenue rose 10% in its fiscal third quarter, the fastest growth since December 2021. Amazon's gloomy guidance overshadows its earnings. Even though the company surpassed Wall Street's estimates for its second-quarter results, its expected operating income for the current quarter wasn't as high as analysts had hoped for. [PRO] Novo Nordisk's stock plunge isn't that surprising. On Tuesday, the firm's shares fell as much as 26% after it slashed its full-year guidance — and appointed a new CEO. Here's why companies tend to make both announcements simultaneously. Tariff turmoil: How global CEOs are shifting gears In interviews with CNBC this earnings season, CEOs across industries sent a clear message: tariffs are no longer just a political tactic. As trade rules grow more uncertain and tariffs resurface in policy discussions, business leaders say they're rethinking everything from where factories are located to how products are priced. The old "just in time" model is giving way to something more cautious: make goods closer to the buyer, ask for exemptions where possible, and stay alert to shifting consumer habits. —
NBC News
7 minutes ago
- NBC News
Trump says his new high tariffs are going 'very well, very smooth' — but he's open to more deals
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump touted the expansive new tariffs on imports he imposed on global trading partners Thursday night, telling NBC News in a phone interview that it all was going "very well, very smooth." He also said that with just a few hours before his self-imposed midnight deadline for trade deals, it was "too late" for other countries to avoid tariff rates set to snap in place next week, which he formalized in a new executive order. But, he added, his door will always be open to compelling offers: "It doesn't mean that somebody doesn't come along in four weeks and say we can make some kind of a deal." In Thursday's executive order, Trump made official his agreements with trading partners such as the European Union, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the Philippines. Trump's order unilaterally sets rates for countries that did not reach agreements with him. For example, Switzerland's rate will be set higher than previously threatened, at 39%, while Taiwan's will be set lower, at 20%. Trump boasted of the tariff revenue the U.S. is already taking in — $26 billion in June, according to Treasury Department figures — and said there would be much more to come. 'We will be taking in hundreds of billions of dollars and very quickly,' he said. Asked if he's worried about potential price spikes on imported goods, Trump replied, 'The only price that's spiked is the hundreds of billions of dollars coming in.' Trump indicated that he was open to further discussions with Canada, and said he may even speak to Prime Minister Mark Carney later Thursday night, but he said he wouldn't make a new deal with the country before the deadline. Trump also said he was unfamiliar with Brazilian President Lula de Silva's recent New York Times interview suggesting Brazil was prepared to dig in and push back against the U.S. tariff program. Told of its tenor, the president responded, 'That's OK. But he doesn't have to do business with the United States which is fine with me.' In his interview with NBC News, Trump also discussed the upcoming trip by special envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who will travel to the Gaza Strip on Friday. "We want to make sure people get fed," he said, referring to the hunger crisis in Gaza and saying he was looking forward to hearing their report on the situation. Asked if he trusts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to administer U.S. aid in Gaza, Trump said, 'He's certainly a competent person,' and added that he remained concerned about Hamas stealing aid. 'Good management will stop that," Trump said. "Hopefully the Israelis will provide that.'
