Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-President Donald Trump shake hands before their meeting in Helsinki on July 16, 2018. A new book by journalist Bob Woodward reports that President Trump secretly shared COVID-19 tests with President Putin in 2020. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Hide Caption
Toggle caption Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
Vice President Harris spoke out against a journalist who alleged that the former president secretly shared a COVID-19 testing machine with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2020, when testing was out of reach for most Americans. Bob Woodward criticizes Donald Trump following a new report.
The revelations, first reported by CNN and the Washington Post on Tuesday, are detailed in the famed Watergate correspondent’s upcoming book “The War,” which deals with Trump and Biden on the international stage. It’s about the president’s accomplishments.
According to the book, at the height of the 2020 pandemic, President Trump secretly sent testing equipment to the Russian leader even as the United States and other countries faced a devastating shortage of test kits. That’s what it means.
“Don’t tell anyone because people will be mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me,” Putin reportedly told Trump. Woodward said Trump responded, “I don’t care. That’s fine.”
NPR has not independently verified this account, which is based on interviews with anonymous sources.
Asked about the report in an interview with Howard Stern on Tuesday, Harris said Woodward’s report was an example of why Trump can’t be trusted as commander-in-chief, adding that Trump is an authoritarian with whom she would like to be friends. He said he was easily manipulated by others.
“He admires strong men and is at their mercy because he considers them his friends, and they manipulate him all the time, controlling him with flattery and favors. ,” Harris said. Hundreds of them, everyone was vying to get their hands on these kits…and this guy who was the President of the United States was sending them to a murderous dictator in Russia for his personal use. Masu. ”
The Trump campaign dismissed the book as a “made-up story” written by a “deranged man," according to a statement from communications director Stephen Chan.
“President Trump has denied any access to this garbage book that is sitting in bargain bins in the novel section of discount bookstores or being used as toilet paper,” the statement said.
Woodward’s reporting adds to the swirl of questions surrounding President Trump’s relationship with President Putin, which dates back to the 2016 White House campaign, when the president asked about Hillary Clinton’s disappearance. He publicly called on Russia to find the emails. President Trump defended his position on President Putin, claiming that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 if Putin was still in office.
Woodward said the relationship appears to have continued even after Trump left the White House, reporting that the former president may have met with Putin seven times since Biden took office. I am doing it.
In one episode reported by Woodward, Trump ordered his aides to leave the Oval Office at Mar-a-Lago in order to have a private call with Putin in early 2024.
The book, to be released on October 15th, also details pivotal moments in Biden’s presidency, including the administration’s response to the Ukraine war and Biden’s fractious relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. are. Woodward said the president was frustrated with Netanyahu, concluding that Netanyahu’s political survival instincts outweighed his interest in defeating Hamas amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
“That Abu **** son, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad guy!” Biden told his advisers, according to Woodward.
Asked about the anecdote, the White House declined to comment, but deputy press secretary Emily Simmons said the U.S.-Israel relationship is “stronger than ever” and that Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu have a long and candid relationship. said.
“They can have very honest and open conversations with each other,” Simmons said.