Bob Woodward’s new book says Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin during shortage

A brand new guide by veteran Watergate reporter Bob Woodward says Donald Trump secretly despatched coveted Covid-19 testing machines to Vladimir Putin for private use once they had been briefly provide, a declare angrily dismissed by the Trump marketing campaign.

The guide – titled Battle – additionally features a declare that Trump secretly has stayed in contact with Putin since leaving workplace, in accordance with excerpts cited by US media.

In response, former President Trump instructed ABC Information: “He is a storyteller. A nasty one. And he is misplaced his marbles.”

The Trump marketing campaign additionally stated not one of the “made-up tales” had been true.

“President Trump gave him completely no entry for this trash guide that both belongs within the cut price bin of the fiction part of a reduction bookstore or used as rest room tissue,” stated Trump marketing campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung in an announcement to the BBC on Tuesday.

The brand new guide, due out subsequent week, attributes the persevering with communications between the previous president and Putin to a single Trump aide who shouldn’t be named within the guide.

In keeping with a report by the New York Occasions, the guide describes one scene through which a Trump aide was ordered out of Trump’s workplace in Mar-a-Lago so the previous president might conduct a name with Putin.

The unnamed aide reportedly stated that the 2 might have spoken a half-dozen instances since Trump left the White Home in 2021.

On Wednesday, the Kremlin denied the pair had spoken.

The guide doesn’t say what they mentioned, and it quotes a Trump marketing campaign official casting doubt on the supposed contact.

The BBC has not seen a replica of the guide. The Occasions reported that Mr. Woodward wrote that he couldn’t corroborate the aide’s declare, and that different sources it reached out to had been unaware of Trump and Putin contacting one another after he left workplace.

Woodward, who rose to fame for his position in uncovering the Watergate scandal that introduced down Richard Nixon’s presidency, has written a number of best-selling books primarily based on entry to high-level sources.

Calling Woodward “demented” and “deranged”, Trump marketing campaign spokesperson stated: “Woodward is an offended little man and is clearly upset as a result of President Trump is efficiently suing him due to the unauthorized publishing of recordings he made beforehand.”

Trump had beforehand spoken to Woodward for the journalist’s 2021 guide – titled Rage. He later sued him over it, claiming Woodward didn’t have permission to launch recordings of their interviews, an allegation denied by the writer.

In Battle, Woodward writes that whereas the previous president was in workplace, Trump “secretly despatched Putin a bunch of Abbott Level of Care Covid take a look at machines for his private use”.

Putin was reportedly anxious about falling ailing with the virus, in accordance with the retelling of Woodward’s guide in US media.

The report provides that Putin had requested Trump to not publicly share that he had despatched him the checks, fearful that it will harm Trump’s popularity.

“I don’t need you to inform anyone as a result of folks will get mad at you, not me,” Putin reportedly instructed Trump, in accordance with the guide cited by the Occasions.

Trump reportedly stated: “I don’t care. Wonderful.”

The claims have resurfaced questions concerning the relationship between Trump and Putin simply weeks earlier than the 05 November election.

The previous president has been accused previously of colluding with Russia to intrude with US elections, although a probe by the Division of Justice discovered no proof of this and reached no conclusion as as to if Trump had obstructed the inquiry.

The guide additionally examines the lengthy shadow solid by Trump over the overseas conflicts of the previous 4 years and over the bitter US political setting through which they’ve unfolded, in accordance with the Washington Submit.

It additionally contains candid assessments by President Joe Biden of his personal missteps, together with his choice to make Merrick Garland legal professional normal.

Reacting to the prosecution of his son Hunter — by a particular prosecutor named by Garland — the president instructed an affiliate, “Ought to by no means have picked Garland”, the Submit reported.