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Former President Donald Trump has reportedly maintained contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office, according to an upcoming book written by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward.
A copy of Woodward’s book, War, was obtained and cited by The New York Times, which reported that Trump and Putin have spoken up to seven times since the former’s presidency ended in 2021.
According to the Times and the Associated Press, the book also claimed that while Trump was still in office, he secretly sent Putin COVID-19 test machines for personal use in 2020, at a time when they were in high demand.
The book alleges that Putin told Trump not to reveal that he had given away the test machines in order to avoid potential political backlash. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me,” Putin reportedly said.
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The claims made in the book were denied in a Trump campaign spokesperson, as reported by the AP.
“None of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true and are the work of a truly demented and deranged man who suffers from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome,” said Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung in the statement.
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In an interview with Howard Stern on Tuesday, Oct. 8, Vice President Kamala Harris sharply criticized her presidential election opponent for his alleged actions.
“People in America were struggling to get tests and this guy is sending them to Russia, to a murderous dictator for his personal use?” Harris said, according to a pool report.
“That is just the most recent stark example of who Trump is, that he secretly sent COVID test kits for the personal use of Putin of Russia, an adversary to the United States, when he was talking about Americans should be putting bleach in their blood. Think about what this is.”
Woodward’s new book, War, is scheduled to be published by Simon & Schuster on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
