WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office and secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic, Bob Woodward reported in his new book, âWar."
The revelations were made in the famed Watergate reporter's latest book, which also details U.S. President Joe Biden's frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman 's assortment of burner phones. The Associated Press obtained an early copy of the book, which is due out next week.
Steven Cheung, Trump's communications director, denied the accounts in the book. âNone 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,â Cheung said in a statement.
Trump had previously spoken to Woodward for the journalist's 2021 book, âRage.â Trump later sued over it, claiming Woodward never had permission to publicly release recordings of their interviews for the book. The publisher and Woodward denied his allegations.
Here is more from the book:
Trump has had multiple calls with Putin since his White House term ended
Woodward reports that Trump asked an aide to leave his office at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, so that the former U.S. president could have a private call with Putin in early 2024. The aide, whom Woodward doesnât name, said there have been multiple calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left office, perhaps as many as seven, according to the book.
Trump senior adviser and longtime aide Jason Miller told Woodward that he had not heard Trump was having calls with Putin and said, âI'd push back on that.â But Miller also said, according to the book, âIâm sure theyâd know how to get in touch with each other."
Trump's relationship with Putin has been scrutinized since his 2016 campaign for president, when he memorably called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. âRussia, if youâre listening, I hope youâre able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,â he said.
U.S. intelligence agencies later determined that Russia had meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump, though an investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller found no conspiracy between the Trump team and Russia. In 2018, Trump publicly questioned that finding following an in-person meeting with Putin in Helsinki.
In recent years, Trump has criticized U.S. support for Ukraine as it fights off Russiaâs invasion. He has said Ukraine should have made concessions to Putin before Russia invaded in 2022. He also previously touted his good relationship with Putin and called the Russian leader âpretty smartâ for invading Ukraine.
Trump sent COVID-19 test machines to Putin for his personal use
Woodward reports that Trump sent Putin COVID-19 test machines for his personal use as the virus began spreading in 2020.
Putin told Trump not to tell anyone because people would be mad at Trump over it, but Trump said he didnât care if anyone knew, according to the book. Trump ended up agreeing not to tell anyone.
The book doesnât specify when the machines were sent but describes it as being when the virus spread rapidly through Russia. It was previously reported by The Associated Press and other agencies that Trumpâs administration in May 2020 sent ventilators and other equipment to several countries, including Russia.
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, in an interview Tuesday with radio host Howard Stern, accused Trump of giving the machines to a âmurderous dictatorâ at a time when âeveryone was scrambling" to get tests.
âThis person who wants to be president again, who secretly is helping out an an adversary while the American people are dying by the hundreds every day," said Harris, the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate.
Biden's anger at Netanyahu has boiled over in private
The book also details Bidenâs complicated relationship with Netanyahu as well as private moments when the president has been fed up with him over the Israel-Hamas war.
Bidenâs âfrustrations and distrustâ of Netanyahu âeruptedâ this past spring, Woodward writes. The president privately unleashed a profanity-laden tirade, calling him a âson of a bitchâ and a âbad fâââ guy," according to the book.
Biden said he felt, in Woodwardâs accounting, that Netanyahu âhad been lying to him regularly.â With Netanyahu âcontinuing to say he was going to kill every last member of Hamas.â Woodward wrote, âBiden had told him that was impossible, threatening both privately and publicly to withhold offensive U.S. weapons shipment.â
Biden and Netanyahu have long been acquainted, although their relationship has not been known to be close or overly friendly. Last week, Biden said he didnât know whether the Israeli leader was holding up a Mideast peace deal in order to influence the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Asked about the book's reporting, White House spokesperson Emilie Simons told reporters Tuesday that âThe commitment that we have to the state of Israel is ironclad.â
Simons, when pressed on the details, said she wouldn't comment on every anecdote that may come out in reporting. She added of Biden and Netanyahu: âThey have a long-term relationship. They have a very honest and direct relationship, and I donât have a comment on those specific anecdotes.â
Biden criticized Obama's handling of the Russian invasion of Crimea
The book details Bidenâs criticism late last year of President Barack Obamaâs handling of Putinâs invasion of Crimea in 2014, when Biden was serving as the Democratâs vice president.
âThey f----- up in 2014,â Biden said to a close friend in December, blaming the lack of action for Putinâs aggression in Ukraine, Woodward wrote. âBarack never took Putin seriously.â
Graham says going to Mar-a-Lago is âa little bit like going to North Koreaâ
One of Trumpâs longest-term allies, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, blamed Trumpâs ongoing false claims that the 2020 election was rigged to a cult of personality in which the former presidentâs ensconcement at Mar-a-Lago and circle of aides and advisers âconstantly feed this narrative,â according to the book.
The weekend after Russia invaded Ukraine, Graham was with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, which the senator characterized as âa little bit like going to North Korea.â Graham added that âeverybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in.â
On politics, Woodward wrote that Grahamâs counsel was part of what persuaded Trump to run again for the presidency.
In March, during one of his many visits to the Middle East since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Graham told Woodward that he had been meeting with the Saudi crown prince when Graham suggested they call Trump.
From âa bag containing about 50 burner phones,â Prince Mohammed âpulled out one labeled âTRUMP 45.ââ On another trip, Woodward wrote, the Saudi leader retrieved another burner phone, "this time labeled JAKE SULLIVAN â when the men called Bidenâs national security adviser.
Price reported from New York. Associated Press writers Hillel Italie in New York, Eric Tucker in Washington and Aamer Madhani aboard Air Force One contributed to this report