‘ Messages of get well ‘ ’ and told you so

Get well messages for US President Donald Trump poured in from foreign capitals after he and his wife tested positive for the coronavirus, but some had little sympathy for a leader whose response to the pandemic has been widely criticised.

Most diplomatic responses observed the niceties. Covid-19 is a battle we all “continue to fight,” European Council President Charles Michel said, wishing the couple a speedy recovery.

But disappointed by Washington s ’ leadership during the global health crisis, some messages were laced with stinging barbs. This demonstrates “that the virus spares no-one, including those who have shown scepticism. I wish him a swift recovery,” said Gabriel Attal, spokesperson for the French government.

If one of the US most important Nato allies sounded somewhat terse, there was no hiding the bitter satisfaction evident in China s state-controlled ’ media. President Trump and the first “lady have paid the price for his gamble to play down the Covid-19,” tweeted Hu Xijin, editor in chief of China s ’ Global Times newspaper.

Having assured Americans in January that the looming threat of the disease spreading out of China was totally “under control, and told them in February, that the virus would disappear one day like a miracle ”, Trump “tested their credulity in April by suggesting the possibility that disinfectant could be injected to clean out the virus.

The China Daily, the country s official ’ English language newspaper, piled on: “Trump, the White House and his campaign have played down the threat and refused to abide by basic public health guidelines.”

Warmth and concern for Trump was more plentiful in Israel and Taiwan, two governments that treasure their friendship with the US.