A recent publication has asserted that Donald Trump provided Vladimir Putin with COVID testing equipment for his individual use in 2020.
Bob Woodward, the renowned US author and distinguished Watergate reporter, noted in his latest book titled “War” that Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin have conducted up to seven secret phone conversations since the former president’s departure from office.
Traditional Russian wooden dolls illustrating Putin and Trump during his first term as US president. Pic: AP
According to Woodward, as the pandemic began to proliferate in 2020, Mr. Trump sent an undisclosed quantity of these machines to Mr. Putin.
Mr. Putin purportedly advised Mr. Trump to keep the matter confidential to avoid public outrage, to which Mr. Trump responded that he was unconcerned about anyone’s knowledge of it.
The book indicates that Mr. Trump ultimately consented to remain silent about the details.
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The exact timing of when the machines were dispatched remains unclear, though it is noted that the action took place as the virus was spreading across Russia.
Earlier reports indicated that Mr. Trump’s administration had provided ventilators and other medical supplies to several nations, including Russia.
Private phone conversations
Woodward further noted that Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin had a series of discussions following Mr. Trump’s exit from the Oval Office.
He narrates an instance where an aide was requested to vacate Mr. Trump’s office at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to facilitate a call to Mr. Putin.
Woodward asserts that this unnamed aide confirmed numerous conversations took place.
The publication does not provide specifics about the subjects discussed.
Since his 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump has maintained a contentious rapport with Mr. Putin, famously urging Russia to locate emails deleted by his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
US intelligence services concluded that Russia had interfered in that election, a claim Mr. Trump publicly challenged two years later after his face-to-face meeting with Mr. Putin in Helsinki.
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‘The work of a truly demented and deranged man.’
Mr. Trump’s team responded to the disclosure by disputing its validity.
Communications Director Steven Cheung rebuffed the assertions, stating: “None of these fabricated accounts by Bob Woodward are accurate and rather reflect the work of a genuinely disturbed individual suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
Sky News’ US counterpart NBC News quoted Mr. Trump’s associate JD Vance expressing surprise at Bob Woodward’s continued existence: “I genuinely wasn’t aware that Bob Woodward was still alive until you posed that question to me.”
He criticized Woodward as a “hack” and remarked that even if the accounts were factual: “Is there anything inherently wrong with communicating with world leaders? No. Is there anything inappropriate about pursuing diplomacy?”
