White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt scolded a low-level French politician during her Monday press briefing after that politician demanded the U.S. return the Statue of Liberty to France. 

Leavitt reminded Raphaël Glucksmann, who is a member of the European Parliament and leads a minor left-wing party in France, that if not for the American military during World War II, he'd be speaking German.

The comment came in response to a question from Fox News reporter Peter Doocy about whether President Donald Trump would give the statue back.

Absolutely not

"Absolutely not," Leavitt said, smiling. "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.

Glucksmann said during a speech to supporters on Sunday, "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," he said.

The statue was intended as a gift to the U.S. to mark the 100th anniversary of the July 4, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence, but it was not funded and completed until 1886.

It is listed as American government property by UNESCO.

"Brutal"

His party has accused the Trump administration on its website of being "authoritarian" in how he wields power and said he is "preparing to deliver Ukraine on a silver platter" to Russia.

While French President Emmanuel Macron has not been a vocal critic of Trump, Prime Minister François Bayrou called his treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "brutal" during a recent White House visit.

No one in France with any authority has asked the U.S. for the statue back, and they are extremely unlikely to do so.

France is not alone in being unhappy with Trump and the direction politics in America has taken.

Trump's tariffs have threatened many economies around the world, with Trump determined to right the wrongs of these countries toward America once and for all.