From France comes call for Trump's America to return Lady Liberty. Here's why it won't happen
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Paris (AP) Hey, America: Give the Statue of Liberty back to France.
So says a French politician who is making headlines in his country for suggesting that the US is no longer worthy of the monument, which was a gift from France nearly 140 years ago.
Raphael Glucksmann, as a member of the European Parliament and co-president of a small left-wing party in France, can't claim to speak for all of his compatriots.
But his assertion in a speech this weekend that some Americans “have chosen to switch to the side of the tyrants” reflects the broad shockwaves that US President Donald Trump's seismic shifts in foreign and domestic policy are triggering in France and elsewhere in Europe.
“Give us back the Statue of Liberty,” Glucksmann told supporters of his Public Place party, who applauded and whistled, on Sunday.
“It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us,” Glucksmann said.
The White House brushed back on the comments Monday, saying France instead should still be “grateful” for U.S. support during World War I and World War II. Glucksmann, in turn, then shot back that French gratitude for Americans' wartime sacrifices is “eternal,” but added: “If the free world no longer interests your government, then we will take up the torch, here in Europe."
“No one, of course, will come and steal the Statue of Liberty,” he wrote in X posts. “The statue is yours. But what it embodies belongs to everyone.”
Can France claim it back?
Dream on.
UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural arm that has the statue on its list of World Heritage treasures, notes that the iconic monument is US government property.
It was initially envisaged as a monumental gesture of French-American friendship to mark the 100th anniversary of the July 4, 1776, Declaration of Independence.
But 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 made that the French would pay for the statue and Americans would cover the costs of its pedestal.
Transported in 350 pieces from France, the statue was officially unveiled on Oct. 28, 1886.
Is France's government offering asylum to Lady Liberty?
No French-US relations would have to drop off a cliff before Glucksmann found support from French President Emmanuel Macron's government.
For the moment, the French president is treading a fine line — trying to work with Trump and temper some of his policy shifts on the one hand, but also pushing back hard against some White House decisions, notably Trump's tariff hikes.
Macron has let his prime minister, François Bayrou, play the role of being a more critical voice. Bayrou tore into the “brutality” that was shown to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during his White House visit and suggested that Trump's administration risked handing victory to Russia when it paused military aid to Ukraine.
Glucksmann's party has been even more critical, posting 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.”
“Today, this land is ceasing to be what it was,” Glucksmann said.
What is the White House saying?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, when asked about Glucksmann's comments, responded that the US would “absolutely not” be parting with the landmark in New York Harbour.
Leavitt is one of three administration officials named in a lawsuit by The Associated Press on First and Fifth Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
“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," Leavitt said Monday, apparently referencing the U.S. fight with Allied powers to free France from Nazi occupation during World War II and alongside France during World War I. “They should be very grateful.”
But the debt of gratitude runs both ways. Leavitt skipped past France's key role in supporting the future United States during its war for independence from the United Kingdom.
In his subsequent follow-up, Glucksmann said that his call for Lady Liberty to travel back across the Atlantic to France had been intended as “a wake-up call.”
“We all in Europe love this nation to which we know we owe so much," he posted. “It will rise again. You will rise again. We are counting on you.”
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Parliament passes Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025
New Delhi (PTI): Parliament early Friday passed the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, after it was approved by the Rajya Sabha.
The Lok Sabha had on Thursday approved the Bill after over a 12-hour debate.
In Rajya Sabha, the Bill got 128 votes in its favour and 95 against after all the amendments moved by the opposition were rejected.
In the lower house, the bill was supported by 288 MPs while 232 voted against it.
Participating in a debate in the Rajya Sabha, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Bill was brought with a number of amendments based on suggestions given by various stakeholders.
"The Waqf Board is a statutory body. All government bodies should be secular," the minister said, explaining the inclusion of non-Muslims on the board.
He, however, said the number of non-Muslims has been restricted to only four out of 22.
Rijiju also alleged that the Congress and other opposition parties, and not the BJP, were trying to scare Muslims with the Waqf Bill.
"You (opposition) are pushing Muslims out of the mainstream," he added.
He said for 60 years, the Congress and others ruled the country, but did not do much for Muslims and the community continues to live in poverty.
"Muslims are poor, who is responsible? You (Congress) are. Modi is now leading the government to uplift them," the minister said.
According to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, Waqf tribunals will be strengthened, a structured selection process will be maintained, and a tenure will be fixed to ensure efficient dispute resolution.
As per the Bill, while Waqf institutions' mandatory contribution to Waqf boards is reduced from 7 per cent to 5 per cent, Waqf institutions earning over Rs 1 lakh will undergo audits by state-sponsored auditors.
A centralised portal will automate Waqf property management, improving efficiency and transparency.
The Bill proposes that practising Muslims (for at least five years) can dedicate their property to the Waqf, restoring pre-2013 rules.
It stipulates that women must receive their inheritance before the Waqf declaration, with special provisions for widows, divorced women and orphans.
The Bill proposes that an officer above the rank of collector investigate government properties claimed as Waqf.
It also proposes that non-Muslim members be included in the central and state Waqf boards for inclusivity.
