At a time when the United States was grappling with a shortage of COVID-19 testing equipment, former President Donald Trump allegedly sent some of the testing equipment to Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to an upcoming book by journalist Bob Woodward. In 2020, Trump âsecretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use,” Woodward writes in War, per Politico. The book also alleges that Trump continued to speak to Putin even after leaving the White House.
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Trump has denied the allegations.
According to the book, Trump has spoken to Putin up to seven times since 2021, reported NBC. Citing an anonymous Trump aide as his source of information, Woodward wrote about how Trump allegedly told an aide to leave his office so he could have “a private phone call” with Putin. The former president has denied these claims. Speaking to ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, Trump called both of the allegations “false.”
“He’s a storyteller. A bad one. And he’s lost his marbles,” Trump told the news outlet, referring to Woodward.
The Kremlin has also responded.
Though Trump has denied the claims (and Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Hill that “none of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are trueâ), the Kremlin has confirmed that Trump sent COVID testing equipment to Putin. In a written response shared by Bloomberg, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, “We also sent equipment at the beginning of the pandemic,” reported Politico.
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While Trump did send COVID tests to Putin, he didn't continue to talk to him after his presidency, according to the Kremlin.
Though the Kremlin confirmed that Trump did send COVID testing equipment to Putin, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the allegations about Trump’s phone conversations with Putin are untrue. “As for the calls, that’s a lie,” Peskov said, per Reuters. “There were no calls, and they did not hold phone calls after Trump ceased to be president.”
It's not the first time people have been concerned about Trump's relationship with Putin.
Concerns about Trump’s relationship with Putin are nothing new. On several occasions, Trump has seemed to defend and even praise Putin. When speaking about Russian interference in the 2016 election in 2018, Trump seemed to suggest that he trusted Putin over US intelligence agencies.
“I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today,â Trump said at the time, per Rolling Stone. BBC reported that the former president also said “President Putin says it’s not Russia. I don’t see any reason why it would be.” In 2023, Trump described his relationship with Putin as “very good.”
In 2022, he seemed to praise Russian aggression against Ukraine, calling Putin “geniusâ and “very savvy,” The New York Times reported.
Kamala Harris weighed in on how Trump looks up to 'strong men' and 'thinks that they're his friends.'
Vice President Kamala Harris weighed in on the allegations included in Woodward’s book during an interview with Howard Stern on Tuesday, October 8. “[Trump] admires strong men, and he gets played by them because he thinks that they’re his friends, and they are manipulating him full time and manipulating him by flattery and with favor,” Harris said during the interview, per NPR.
“Remember, people were dying by the hundreds, everybody was scrambling to get these kits,” Harris continued. “And this guy, who was president of the United States, is sending them to Russia to a murderous dictator for his personal use.â
