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Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
French sculptors pledge to build titanium Statue of Liberty – and Elon Musk approves
France's self-professed last sculpture foundry has weighed into a row over whether the US should return the Statue of Liberty to its country of origin by proposing to build a new one out of titanium. The proposal by Nice-based Atelier Missor, which specialises in sculpting famed French figures such as Napoleon and Joan of Arc, received approval from Elon Musk, who called the idea 'cool' on X. The foundry's plan to build a new Statue of Liberty 'to withstand millions of years' followed a call by French centre-Left MEP Raphael Glucksmann for America to return the original. During a political rally of his Place Publique movement, Mr Glucksmann launched a blistering attack on the Trump administration in which he said: '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.'' Mr Glucksmann is a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and a staunch supporter of Ukraine. France gave the statue, which stands 305 feet tall and weighs 450,000lbs, to the US as a gift on July 4, 1884, to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The iconic copper-clad sculpture was created by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and sits on Liberty Island in New York Harbour. 'We gave it to you as a gift,' Mr Glucksmann went on, citing the United States' founding values of freedom and liberty. 'But apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.' He concluded his remarks by stating France would welcome top researchers who were fired in the cuts to the US National Institutes of Health and similar organisations. His comments prompted a fiery rebuke from Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, who 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.' French commentators pointed out that if it weren't for French military and financial support during the War of Independence, America would likely still be a 'British colony' today. Mr Glucksmann later fired back: 'No one, of course, will come and steal the Statue of Liberty. The statue is yours. But what it embodies belongs to everyone. And if the free world no longer interests your government, then we will take up the torch, here in Europe.' Wading into the row, Atelier Missor wrote: 'To our fellow Americans: we are the last sculpture foundry in France and we have a message for you.' 'Keep the Statue of Liberty; it's rightfully yours. But get ready for another one. 'A New Statue of Liberty, much bigger, made out of titanium to withstand millions of years. 'We, the French people, are going to make it again!' The foundry, which said its aim was to fulfil Napoleon's dream to 'make Paris the capital of the universe', was recently commissioned to build a monument statue of Joan of Arc for the French Riviera city of Nice. However, in January, the local state prefect cancelled the €170,000 contract and ordered the 4.5-ton golden bronze statue to be taken down, saying Nice's Right-wing town hall had failed to respect the proper public tender process. Atelier Missor said the annulment had left it on the verge of bankruptcy. A crowdfunding campaign to pay for the statue launched by Nice former deputy mayor in charge of culture has gathered €50,000. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
French sculptors pledge to build titanium Statue of Liberty – and Elon Musk approves
France's self-professed last sculpture foundry has weighed into a row over whether the US should return the Statue of Liberty to its country of origin by proposing to build a new one out of titanium. The proposal by Nice-based Atelier Missor, which specialises in sculpting famed French figures such as Napoleon and Joan of Arc, received approval from Elon Musk, who called the idea 'cool' on X. The foundry's plan to build a new Statue of Liberty 'to withstand millions of years' followed a call by French centre-Left MEP Raphael Glucksmann for America to return the original. During a political rally of his Place Publique movement, Mr Glucksmann launched a blistering attack on the Trump administration in which he said: '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.'' Mr Glucksmann is a member of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats and a staunch supporter of Ukraine. France gifted the statue, which stands 305 feet tall and weighs 450,000lbs, to the US on July 4, 1884, to commemorate the 108th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The iconic copper-clad sculpture was created by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and sits on Liberty Island in New York Harbour. 'We gave it to you as a gift,' Mr Glucksmann went on, citing the United States' founding values of freedom and liberty. 'But apparently you despise it. So it will be just fine here at home.' He concluded his remarks by stating France would welcome top researchers who were fired in the cuts to the US National Institutes of Health and similar organisations. His comments prompted a fiery rebuke from Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, who 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.' French commentators pointed out that if it weren't for French military and financial support during the War of Independence, America would likely still be a 'British colony' today. Mr Glucksmann later fired back: 'No one, of course, will come and steal the Statue of Liberty. The statue is yours. But what it embodies belongs to everyone. And if the free world no longer interests your government, then we will take up the torch, here in Europe.' 'Withstand millions of years' Wading into the row, Atelier Missor wrote: 'To our fellow Americans: we are the last sculpture foundry in France and we have a message for you.' 'Keep the Statue of Liberty; it's rightfully yours. But get ready for another one. 'A New Statue of Liberty, much bigger, made out of titanium to withstand millions of years. 'We, the French people, are going to make it again!' The foundry, which said its aim was to fulfil Napoleon's dream to 'make Paris the capital of the universe', was recently commissioned to build a monument statue of Joan of Arc for the French Riviera city of Nice. However, in January, the local state prefect cancelled the €170,000 contract and ordered the 4.5-ton golden bronze statue to be taken down, saying Nice's Right-wing town hall had failed to respect the proper public tender process. Atelier Missor said the annulment had left it on the verge of bankruptcy. A crowdfunding campaign to pay for the statue launched by Nice former deputy mayor in charge of culture has gathered €50,000.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
French politician says US should return Statue of Liberty
A French European parliament member quipped over the weekend that the U.S. should return the Statue of Liberty to France after President Donald Trump decided 'to side with the tyrants' against Ukraine. Raphaël Glucksmann, a a member of the European Parliament and co-president of Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, a small left-wing party in France, suggested in a speech Sunday that the U.S. was no longer worthy of the gift it received from France in the 1880s. Glucksmann accused Trump and other Americans of choosing 'to switch to the side of the tyrants.' 'Give us back the Statue of Liberty,' he joked. 'It was our gift to you. But apparently you despise her. So she will be happy here with us.' Glucksmann's comments came after the administration suspended aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine to speed up negotiations to end the war, which started in Feb. 2022 when Russian launched its invasion. The U.S. later resumed intelligence sharing and security support amid productive talks on a ceasefire proposal. Glucksmann also alluded to the current administration's immigration policies, by referencing New York poet Emma Lazarus' words about the statue, the 'mighty woman with a torch' who welcomed the 'huddled masses yearning to breathe free.' 'Today, this land is ceasing to be what it was,' he said. Trump's White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, dismissed Glucksmann's demand Monday, describing him as an 'unnamed low-level French politician' who should be grateful he isn't speaking German, a reference to the Nazi's invasion of the country during World War 2. Glucksmann's request is unlikely to be granted. UNESCO, the United Nations' organization that includes the statue on list of World Heritage sites, says the statue belongs to the U.S. government. It was transported to the U.S. in 350 pieces in 1885 and was officially unveiled Oct. 28, 1886. _____
The Guardian
17-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
French politician jokes US should return Statue of Liberty for siding with ‘tyrants'
A French European parliament member has quipped that the US should return the Statue of Liberty, which it received as a gift from France about 140 years ago, after Donald Trump's decision 'to side with the tyrants' against Ukraine. 'Apparently you despise it,' said Raphaël Glucksmann of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, evidently with his tongue in his cheek. 'So, it will be just fine here at home.' Glucksmann also referred to a crackdown on 'scientific freedom' in the US in his remarks at a party convention, first reported by Agence France-Presse. The comments amount to a verbal protest after Trump suspended military aid and intelligence gathering on Ukraine, in an apparent attempt to strong-arm its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in the negotiations to end the war started by Russia, which invaded in February 2022. The US president upbraided Zelenskyy during a televised diplomatic meltdown in the Oval Office on 28 February, which caused significant alarm across Europe for appearing to signal that the Trump administration generally favors Russia in the conflict. The US later restored military aid, but on Monday it was reported the US was withdrawing from an international body formed to investigate responsibility for the invasion of Ukraine. Trump and the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, for whom the US president has repeatedly expressed a fondness, are tentatively scheduled to talk on Tuesday over the phone about ending the war in Ukraine. Glucksmann's remarks additionally nodded to Elon Musk's brutal staffing and spending cuts to the US federal government, which have affected numerous health and climate research workers. Glucksmann said France could be in a position to benefit if any of the fired workers emigrated. 'If you want to fire your best researchers, if you want to fire all the people who, through their freedom and their sense of innovations, their taste for doubt and research, have made your country the world's leading power, then we're going to welcome them,' said Glucksmann. 'Give us back the Statue of Liberty. 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.' France did indeed present the 305ft tall, 450,000lb Statue of Liberty to the US in Paris on 4 July 1884, the 108th anniversary of the American declaration of independence from the UK. Nicknamed 'Lady Liberty', the torch-bearing statue – designed by Fédéric Auguste Bartholdi of France – was then installed on an island in New York City's harbor and dedicated in 1886. There is a smaller copy of the statue on an island in the Seine river in Paris. A bronze plaque on the Statue of Liberty's pedestal contains the words of a poem titled The New Colossus, which overtly references the large number of immigrants who arrived in the US in the 19th century and partially reads: 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.' Trump has been aggressively pursuing the deportation of immigrants. This weekend alone his administration deported a Brown University medical professor to Lebanon, despite her having a valid US work visa and a judge's order not to do so, and deported to El Salvador more than 250 people whom the White House accused of belonging to Venezuelan and Salvadoran gangs, despite a judge's order halting the flight.
