Kremlin confirms Trump sent Covid tests, denies calls
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The news: A Kremlin spokesman confirmed that former US President Donald Trump sent Covid-19 testing devices to Russian President Vladimir Putin while in office during the height of the pandemic, Bloomberg reported.
The context: A new book by Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward claims that Trump secretly sent Covid-19 testing devices to Putin for his personal use.
The book also cites an unnamed aide saying the former president and current Republican nominee had spoken with Putin as many as seven times since leaving office in 2021, even as he pressured Republicans to block military aid to Ukraine for its defence against Russia’s intrusion.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the shipment but denied Woodward's claims that Trump had spoken to Putin multiple times since leaving office.
The book, called War, also claims President Joe Biden privately gave profanity-laced assessments of both Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
According to the book, Biden told one of his associates earlier this year: "That son of a bi*ch, Bibi Netanyahu, he's a bad guy," as Israeli's war in Gaza was intensifying.
The report says that shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the US president told advisers: "That f*cking Putin. Putin is evil. We are dealing with the epitome of evil."
What they said: Trump, who has boasted his relationship with Putin would have prevented global conflicts like the Ukraine war and Israel’s war with Hamas, vehemently denied the claims. “That’s wrong, that’s absolutely wrong. Look I know Bob Woodward, no that’s a false story,” he said.
The Trump campaign also dismissed Woodward's allegations, saying “none of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true”.
US Vice President Kamala Harris seized on the report, criticising Trump for prioritising a foreign leader over Americans in need of the scarce tests.
"People were dying by the hundreds… everybody was scrambling to get these kits, the COVID test kits. Couldn't get them anywhere. And his guy who is president of the United States is sending them to Russia, to a murderous dictator, for his personal use?” Harris said on The Howard Stern Show, adding: “Just the most recent, stark example of who Donald Trump is.”
The sources: Bloomberg, The Washington Post
