Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin during pandemic

Claims made in new book by Bob Woodward, who broke the Watergate scandal

Donald Trump secretly sent American Covid tests to Vladimir Putin for his personal use, a new book has claimed.
The former president supplied the Kremlin with tests, which were in short supply, to be used by Mr. Putin at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bob Woodward, the veteran American reporter who broke the Watergate scandal, said a former Trump aide had told him about the shipment.
In his new book, War, he said that Mr. Putin had cautioned Trump not to reveal that he had supplied the tests because he might face public backlash.
Mr. Woodward wrote that the Russian leader told Trump: “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me.”
Trump has faced criticism for his alleged fondness for Mr. Putin. The book claims that the two men held a phone call in early 2024, as Joe Biden prepared to send more weapons to Ukraine.
Trump has said that he would end the war in Ukraine by the time he is inaugurated if he wins this year’s presidential election. His approach to the war is a major point of difference with Kamala Harris, who said on Monday she would not meet Mr. Putin without Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president.
Mr Woodward’s book alleges that Trump and Mr Putin have secretly maintained a close relationship since he left the White House in January 2021.The book claims that they have spoken as many as seven times, leading its author to the conclusion Trump is a worse president than Richard Nixon, who resigned over Watergate.“Trump was the most reckless and impulsive president in American history and is demonstrating the very same character as a presidential candidate in 2024,” Mr Woodward wrote.The book also reveals details about Mr Biden’s approach to world leaders. Behind closed doors, he is accused of describing Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli president as a “son of a b****” and a “bad f***ing guy”.In public, the US president has been a staunch supporter of Mr Netanyahu in his war against Hamas.He also reportedly believed that, at one point in the Ukraine war, there was a 50 per cent chance that Mr Putin would use nuclear weapons, and had intelligence in October 2021 that suggested Russia was planning an invasion of Ukraine.The ground invasion, described by the Kremlin as a “special military operation”, took place in February 2022.Some of the intelligence obtained by the Biden administration reportedly came from a human source run by the US intelligence services inside the Kremlin.Human sources, or spies, are some of the most sensitive and valuable sources for intelligence agencies. The book suggests the White House was more informed about Mr Putin’s plans than had been previously reported.In one conversation, Mr Biden is said to have described the Russian leader as “the epitome of evil”.Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, denied the account of the former president’s relationship with Mr Putin, and said he had given the reporter “no access”.“None of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true,” he said.But the revelations may cast doubt on Mr Trump’s claim that he would be a fierce negotiator on behalf of Ukraine if he wins back the White House next month.Although the details of his plan to end the war are unclear, his running mate JD Vance has suggested he would support territorial concessions to Moscow in exchange for a ceasefire.
Mr Putin has jokingly said he would prefer Ms Harris to win the US election, acknowledging his endorsement would do more to harm her campaign than support it.