White House press secretary Karoline Leaviitt reminded a French politician who wants the Statue of Liberty back that the U.S. saved him from Nazi Germany.

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 U.S. President Donald Trump's seismic shifts in foreign and domestic policy are triggering in France and elsewhere in Europe.

The White House responded by saying that “it's only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now.”