--- description: The mayor of Berlin — a city known for its own infamously divisive wall — implored President Trump not to build a wall on Mexico's border title: Berlin Mayor to Donald Trump: 'Mr. President, Don't Build This Wall' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt981bdef8022289a3/6988b7b9428a9ec08ecd5a9e/berlin-mayor-donald-trump-wall.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Berlin Mayor to Donald Trump: 'Mr. President, Don't Build This Wall'  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 28, 2017 7:51 PM CUT  Activists from Greenpeace display a message reading "Mr. President, walls divide. Build Bridges!" along the Berlin wall in Berlin on Jan. 20, 2017 to coincide with the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Activists from Greenpeace display a message reading "Mr. President, walls divide. Build Bridges!" along the Berlin wall in Berlin on Jan. 20, 2017 to coincide with the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.John MacDougall—AFP/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 28, 2017 7:51 PM CUT The mayor of Berlin — a city known for its own [infamously divisive wall](http://time.com/3558854/freedom-the-berlin-wall/ "undefined") — sent a message on Friday to President Donald Trump, imploring him not to build a [wall on Mexico’s border](http://time.com/4651464/mexico-donald-trump-boycott-protests/ "undefined"). “Berlin — the city which stands for the separation of Europe as well as the freedom of Europe — cannot watch silently as another country plans to build a wall,” Berlin Mayor Michael Müller said in a [statement](http://www.berlin.de/rbmskzl/aktuelles/pressemitteilungen/2017/pressemitteilung.555498.php "undefined") Friday, according to a [translation by the Washington _Post_.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/01/27/fate-of-berlin-wall-should-be-a-teaching-moment-for-trump-current-berlin-mayor-says/?utm%5Fterm=.743c84101214 "undefined") “We cannot simply accept that all our historic experiences are being thrown into disarray by the ones we have to thank most for our freedom: the Americans. I call on the U.S. President to not go down this wrong track of isolation and exclusion.” Müller’s statement made reference to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who in 1987 famously addressed Soviet Union leader [Mikhail Gorbachev](http://time.com/4645442/gorbachev-putin-trump/ "undefined") with the words, “Mr. Gorbachev: Tear down this wall.” The [Berlin Wall](http://time.com/3879870/berlin-wall-photos-early-days-cold-war-symbol/ "undefined"), which divided East and West Germany during the Cold War, finally fell on Nov. 9, 1989. “For that reason I say: Dear Mr. President, don’t build this wall,” Müller said Friday, as Trump [pushed forward with plans](http://time.com/4646273/donald-trump-wall-mexico-border-immigration/?iid=sr-link7 "undefined") for the Mexican border wall that was a central promise of his campaign. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4652645/donald-trump-berlin-mayor-wall/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4652645/donald-trump-berlin-mayor-wall/"},"headline":"Berlin Mayor to Donald Trump: 'Mr. President, Don't Build This Wall'","datePublished":"2017-01-28T19:51:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:00:29.411Z","description":"Berlin \"cannot watch silently as another country plans to build a wall\"","url":"https://time.com/4652645/donald-trump-berlin-mayor-wall/","keywords":["White House","Germany","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt981bdef8022289a3/6988b7b9428a9ec08ecd5a9e/berlin-mayor-donald-trump-wall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt981bdef8022289a3/6988b7b9428a9ec08ecd5a9e/berlin-mayor-donald-trump-wall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GERMANY-US-POLITICS-INAUGURATION-DEMO","caption":"GERMANY-US-POLITICS-INAUGURATION-DEMO","creditText":"John MacDougall—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4652645/donald-trump-berlin-mayor-wall/","name":"Berlin Mayor to Donald Trump: 'Mr. President, Don't Build This Wall'"}}]}] ```