WASHINGTON: Then-president Donald Trump secretly despatched COVID-19 check kits to Vladimir Putin regardless of a US scarcity in the course of the pandemic, and spoke a number of occasions with the Russian chief after leaving workplace, Bob Woodward says in an explosive new e-book.
The famed reporter’s opus additionally chronicles a few of President Joe Biden’s personal acknowledged missteps and his battle to stop escalation of conflict in the Middle East, together with exasperation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over futile efforts to get Israel and Hamas to succeed in a ceasefire.
In excerpts of Battle printed on Tuesday (Oct 8) by The Washington Submit, the place Woodward is an affiliate editor, he says Trump retains a private relationship with Putin whilst he campaigns for an additional time period and the Russian president conducts a war against US ally Ukraine.
With the coronavirus raging in 2020, Trump despatched a batch of coveted assessments to his counterpart in Moscow. Putin accepted the provides however sought to keep away from political fallout for Trump, urging he not reveal the dispatch of medical gear, the e-book says.
In keeping with Woodward, Putin advised Trump: “I do not need you to inform anyone as a result of individuals will get mad at you, not me.”
Woodward additionally cites an unnamed Trump aide who indicated the Republican chief could have spoken to Putin as much as seven occasions since leaving the White Home in 2021 – regardless of the US effort to assist Ukraine resist Russian invasion and the extreme deterioration of relations with Moscow.
The Submit, reporting Woodward’s account, mentioned that at one level in early 2024, Trump ordered an aide out of his workplace in his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida as a result of he wished to carry a non-public name with ex-KGB officer Putin.
At a marketing campaign occasion on Tuesday for Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey, Biden mentioned the best way Trump dealt with the pandemic was a “shame”.
“Over one million individuals died. However guess what … he referred to as his good good friend, Putin, not a joke, and made certain he had the assessments,” Biden mentioned.
