Berlin lets mask slip on feelings for Trump’s America

 Late last week in Bangkok, a shipping container holding thousands of masks destined for the German capital was redirected at the last minute.

As far as Berlin’s city elders are concerned, there wasn’t any doubt about who was to blame: the “Amis.” And not just any Amis (German slang for Americans, not to be confused with French ami, or friend), but the orange-skinned, commander-in-chief variety.

“The actions of the U.S. president do not just betray a lack of solidarity, they are inhumane and irresponsible,” Berlin Mayor Michael Müller, a Social Democrat, thundered on Twitter.

Andreas Geisel, Berlin’s interior minister, went even further, accusing the U.S. of “confiscating” the masks in Thailand.

If Germans didn’t trust President Donald Trump before the coronavirus outbreak, the crisis has convinced them that he’s not just untrustworthy, but dangerous, driven by an unyielding “America First” instinct that puts other countries and their citizens at risk. That such accusations should emanate from Berlin, a city the U.S. saved from Soviet domination during the Berlin Airlift, underscores the depth of distrust for the American president.

American officials told POLITICO they have no information about any mask shipment bound for Germany from Bangkok that was then redirected to the United States.

“This isn’t the hour for the will of the strongest to prevail, but for solidarity and cooperation,” said German conservative Norbert Röttgen, chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor.

Even as Washington has scrambled to debunk the story (and a similar unsubstantiated tale involving masks bound for France last week), it’s been tough going because what Berlin is alleging sounds just like something Trump would do. Germans are still seething over an apparent attempt by Trump last month to quietly secure the rights to a coronavirus vaccine under development in Germany.