At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, then-President Donald Trump sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a COVID-19 testing machine, according to the new book “War” by Bob Woodward.
“This is a time when COVID is running amok, not just in the United States, but around the world,” Woodward told “CBS Sunday Morning” in a recent interview. “He’s giving Putin Abbott point-of-care test kits. I mean, those are valuable assets for anyone in the world, in the country, and he’s giving them to him for his personal use.”
Putin insisted that Trump keep quiet about the gift, according to Woodward.
Vide President Kamala Harris responded to these claims Tuesday during an interview with Howard Stern, saying, “Everyone was rushing to get these kits, these COVID test kits, and this guy, who is the president from the United States, sends them to Russia, this murderer. dictator, for his personal use?
Even after leaving office, Trump remained in contact with the Russian president, according to Woodward. An unidentified aide told Woodward that the former president had as many as seven private calls with Putin – although Woodward noted that he was not able to speak to Trump or Putin to verify that the calls had taken place, and that he was unable to confirm the calls via Trump. campaign or intelligence sources.
But according to the aide, one of the calls was made earlier this year, when Trump was urging Republicans to block further aid to Ukraine to help the country fight Russia.
The newly revealed contacts raise additional questions about Trump’s relationship with Putin. During a recent presidential debate, Trump twice refused to say who he thought would prevail in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Harris told 60 Minutes“She thinks Trump would have allowed Putin to conquer Ukraine.
“If [Trump] “If he were president, Putin would be sitting in kyiv right now,” Harris said. “He says, ‘Oh, he can end it on day one.’ Do you know what it is? It’s about surrender. »
Trump 2024 campaign communications director Steven Cheung blasted Woodward’s claims, saying in a statement: “None of these stories made up by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented man and deranged person who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. “
Cheung said Trump gave Woodward “absolutely no access” to the book and said it “belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section.”
Woodward’s book also includes accounts of President Biden’s private frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Woodward, as fighting in Gaza intensified earlier this year, Biden called Netanyahu a “son of an ab****” and called him “fucking evil.”
Scott MacFarlane
