France Does Not Think the America Deserves the Statue of Liberty and They Would Like Her Back

According to the National Park Service, in 2023, nearly four million people visited the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. Lady Liberty is one of the most popular tourist attractions in New York City. If you're a resident of New York state, you can purchase an Excelsior license plate for your vehicle, which includes a drawing of the statue. She is featured in countless films and television shows, usually symbolizing a feeling of hope.

The poem engraved inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty was written in 1883 by an American poet. Emma Lazarus penned "The New Colossus" to raise money for the construction of that same pedestal. Its words are the very definition of what the United States stands supposedly stands for. Sadly, it's hard to believe that is still the case, and other countries are taking note. France, who gifted America the statue, is particularly disappointed. Are they taking back the Statue of Liberty?

The first line of "The New Colossus" reads, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." The second presidency of Donald Trump has been focused on mass deportations, many of which have been questionably legal. It's a slap to the face of what the United States claims to represent and has resulted in countrywide protests.

What's happening in the United States is concerning on a global scale. According to CNN, on March 16, 2025, Raphael Glucksmann, a member of the European Parliament, commented on what he described as tyrannical behavior. While at a rally, the representative of the left-wing party Place Publique said, "Give us back the Statue of Liberty. It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her."

In response to this, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "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." This was of course in reference to military aid the United States provided to France during World War II.

Glucksmann fired back in a series of posts to X (formerly Twitter). "Our two people are intimately linked by history, the blood we shed, and the passion for freedom we share, a passion symbolized by this Statue that was offered to the United States by France to honor your glorious Revolution," he wrote. He went on to show appreciation for what the U.S. did while pointing out the Americans who fought during WWII were fighting against tyrants. They didn't "flatter them."

The parliamentarian added that the U.S. is worth so much more than the "betrayal of Ukraine and Europe, xenophobia, or obscurantism." It's because of his belief in the United States, and his fear of President Trump's betrayal, that Glucksmann said France should symbolically take back the Statue of Liberty. "No one, of course, will come and steal the Statue of Liberty," Glucksmann clarified. "The statue is yours, but what it embodies belongs to everyone."

The idea for the Statue of Liberty was floated by an anti-slavery activist named Edouard de Laboulaye in 1865, who wanted to honor America's first centennial as well as its enduring friendship with France, per the National Park Service.

French sculptor Auguste Bartholdi loved this idea, and in 1870, he began designing what was then called "Liberty Enlightening the World." Six years later, construction was underway. Between 1881 and 1884, the statue was finished and assembled in Paris. Meanwhile over in the United States, the pedestal was being built in 1884. She arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885, but wasn't fully assembled until 1886.