Trump sent Russia’s Putin secret Covid tests in 2020, new Bob Woodward book claims

In a forthcoming book War, journalist Bob Woodward reports that former President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin have a deeper relationship than previously known.

According to excerpts published by CNN and The Washington Post on Tuesday, Trump sent Putin Covid testing machines in early 2020 for his personal use.

“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Putin told Trump, according to the CNN book excerpt. “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 says that Trump may have had up to seven phone calls with Putin since leaving office in 2021, citing a Trump aide.

Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung vigorously denied the book’s claims in a statement on Tuesday, attacking Woodward in personal terms. He also referenced the fact that Trump has sued Woodward for releasing audio tapes of the former president in 2022. That case remains ongoing.

“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,” Cheung said.