On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the President of the United States received a gift from Germany. A Berlin club brought a piece of the wall to Washington - it was addressed to Donald Trump.
The 2.7-ton wall piece is an original piece of the wall, according to the Initiative Open Society. On Saturday, it was placed in front of the White House, where it should be delivered. The assumption was however first denied, said Jörg Waschescio representative of the association.
"Germany is reunited and in Berlin only isolated pieces remind us that no wall holds forever," says Trump on the wall in letter form. "For decades, the United States has played a vital role in bringing down this wall (in Berlin), from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, and the US Presidents fought against it."
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From Berlin to Washington: A piece of wall for Donald TrumpThe action should remind the president of the US commitment to a world without walls and an open society, the association said. It was a "statement against walls in general", not against a specific one, said Waschescio. Trump, however, is pushing ahead with building a wall on the US border with Mexico and repeatedly praising it as "beautiful" and "big".
According to the initiative, the Wall segment from Berlin has been on its way to Washington since October. If the White House does not accept the piece of the wall in the coming days, it will go on a "small tour of the States," said Waschescio. A gift to the president is owned by the American people and they want to make sure that many people see it.
Read the best SPIEGEL stories about the fall of the Berlin Wall here.
