A new book by journalist Bob Woodward revealed behind-the-scenes details about former President Donald Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin. Multiple news outlets including The New York Times and CNN obtained excerpts from the book called “War.”
Woodward wrote in the book that Trump sent Putin COVID-19 tests for his personal use during the height of the pandemic in 2020.
“Please don’t tell anybody you sent me these,” Putin reportedly told Trump. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”
The book also said Trump secretly stayed in touch with Putin since leaving office in 2021 and may have had up to seven phone calls with him.
A Trump aide reports in the book that Trump asked him to leave his office in Mar-a-Lago so that he could have a private call with Putin early in 2024.
Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steve Cheung, denied the book’s claims.
“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 case of Trump derangement syndrome,” Cheung said in a statement.
Cheung added that Trump did not give Woodward access for this book. He also mentioned Trump already sued Woodward for publishing tapes from his conversations with Trump in 2022. That case is still ongoing.
Woodward is a former reporter for The Washington Post known for breaking the news of the Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon’s presidency. Woodward has written books about each of the last 10 presidents.
