Trump secretly gave Putin Covid testing machines, says Bob Woodward book | Donald Trump

Donald Trump secretly sent Covid-19 testing machines to Vladimir Putin at the start of the pandemic when such resources were scarce, veteran reporter Bob Woodward reveals in a highly anticipated new book.

According to Woodward, Trump “secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid testing machines for his personal use.”

In response, the Russian president told his US counterpart: “I don’t want you to tell anyone, otherwise people will get mad at you.”

Notably, Woodward also reports that the relationship between the two men, which was highly contentious during Trump’s first presidential campaign and the subsequent four years in the White House, has continued through seven private conversations since Trump left office.

The revelations were among many published by US media on Tuesday, including dramatic scenes of Joe Biden warning Putin not to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine and new reports about how Biden was persuaded to become the Democratic presidential candidate this summer to resign, thereby clearing the possibility for Vice President Kamala Harris to challenge Trump in November.

Now 81 – the same age as Biden – Woodward has been a Washington institution since the 1970s, when his work with Carl Bernstein in the Watergate scandal led to Richard Nixon’s resignation as president. After three hard-hitting books about Trump’s presidency – “Fear, Rage and Peril”, the last co-written with Robert Costa – Woodward’s new book “War” looks at major events under Biden, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, Israel’s war against the Hamas and political events fighting at home. It will be published next week.

Excerpts were published by Woodward’s two employers, the Washington Post and CNN.

Although the US and Russia shared medical equipment such as ventilators in the early stages of the pandemic, Trump’s decision to send Putin Covid testing equipment would likely have been extremely controversial had it become public.

Apparently realizing this, Putin reportedly told Trump, “Please don’t tell anyone you sent these to me.”

Trump said: “I don’t care. Fine.”

Putin is said to have replied: “No, no. I don’t want you to tell anyone because then people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”

Trump later lost the White House in 2020, but, notably, Woodward said talks between the two men continued. Earlier this year, Woodward writes, Trump ordered an aide to leave his office at Mar-a-Lago in Florida so he could have a private conversation with Putin.

Concerns remain about Putin’s influence over Trump. Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who investigated ties between Trump and Moscow in connection with the 2016 election and concluded that Putin wanted to help Trump defeat Hillary Clinton, recently said Russia would again this year interfere.

According to the Post, Woodward reported that Jason Miller, a close Trump adviser, responded hesitantly when asked about the ongoing calls from Trump and Putin.

“Um, oh, not that, oh, not that I know of,” Miller reportedly said, adding, “I haven’t heard them talking, so I would reject that.”

Woodward adds that Avril Haines, Biden’s director of national intelligence, has “carefully covered”: “I wouldn’t claim to know about all contacts with Putin.” I don’t want to talk about what President Trump did or didn’t do. “

On Tuesday, Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, said: “None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly insane and deranged man … obviously upset because President Trump is successfully suing him for the tort.” he has done before.”

That lawsuit involves tapes of calls that Woodward released in 2022 and that Trump sued the following year. Woodward has moved to dismiss the lawsuit.

The drama surrounding Woodward’s new book begins less than a month after the November 5 presidential election, which could see Trump return to office. According to Axios, which cited sources who had seen Woodward’s book, Woodward describes a July 4 White House luncheon where Antony Blinken, Biden’s secretary of state, spoke with the president about whether he should move forward amid concerns about his age and his Fitness should withdraw.

Three weeks later, Biden withdrew, a historic decision that has cast a spotlight on Trump’s own age (78) and mental state. According to Woodward, Trump was “the most reckless and impulsive president in American history and displays the same character as a presidential candidate in 2024,” according to the Post.

And yet, Trump and Harris continue to have a tough race, despite the two articles of impeachment against Trump, one for inciting the deadly attack on Congress on January 6th and one for inciting the deadly attack on Congress on January 6th. his conviction on 34 criminal charges related to hush money payments; his other ongoing criminal cases for election fraud and retention of classified information; multimillion-dollar civil penalties in cases including a defamation lawsuit stemming from a rape allegation that a judge found to be “substantially true”; and the spread of other scandals.

Elsewhere, Woodward’s book aims to capture Biden’s candid responses to foreign policy challenges.

The President is reportedly calling Benjamin Netanyahu, the right-wing Israeli prime minister who has resisted US attempts to reach a ceasefire with Hamas, “that son of a bitch” and “a damn villain!”

“That damn Putin,” Biden reportedly said about the Russian president. “Putin is evil. We are dealing with the epitome of evil.”

Russian aggression against Ukraine began when Barack Obama was US president. According to Woodward, Biden believes that the man under whom he served as vice president between 2009 and 2017 “never took Putin seriously” – a view known from reports of tensions between the two men.

“They screwed up in 2014” when Russia invaded Crimea, Biden told a friend, according to Woodward. “That’s why we’re here. We screwed up. Barack never took Putin seriously. We didn’t do anything. We gave Putin permission to move on! Well, I’m revoking his damn driver’s license!”

According to CNN, Woodward reported that in October 2021, US intelligence agencies, including material from a valuable human source in the Kremlin, “conclusively” showed that Putin was planning an invasion of Ukraine. Biden reportedly told Bill Burns, the CIA director, “Jesus Christ! Now I have to deal with Russia swallowing Ukraine?”

According to Woodward, Biden confronted Putin twice in December, in a video conference and then in a “hot 50-minute phone call” in which Putin “threateningly raised the risk of nuclear war” and Biden told him “it was impossible to win.” such a conflict.

Woodward also reports on a conversation between US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in October 2022 about the possible use of nuclear weapons.

“If you were to do this, any restrictions we have in Ukraine would be reconsidered,” Austin reportedly said. “This would isolate Russia on the world stage to a degree that you Russians cannot fully understand.”

Shoigu said: “I don’t like receiving threats.”

Austin said: “Secretary, I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I’m not threatening.”

In another call two days later, Woodward reports, Shoigu claimed that Ukraine was planning to use a “dirty bomb,” a claim the U.S. found false but intended to justify a Russian nuclear strike.

“We don’t believe you,” Austin reportedly said. “We see no signs of this and the world will see through it. Don’t do it.”

“I understand,” replied Shoigu.

Colin Kahl, a senior Pentagon official, tells Woodward: “It was probably the most hair-raising moment of the entire war.”

Woodward also reports that the US struggled to convince Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, that Russia would indeed invade. At the Munich Security Conference in February 2022, Harris reportedly told Zelensky to “think about things like a succession plan … if you are captured or killed or can’t govern,” and then left Germany, hoping never to see Zelensky again.

This month Russia invaded. Two and a half years later, the war drags on, and Zelensky is defiant in Kiev. But Democrats warn that a second Trump presidency would have devastating consequences for Ukraine and its allies, given Trump’s close ties to Putin.