Russia has confirmed that Donald Trump sent the Kremlin sample Covid-19 tests in the early days of the pandemic, after revelations in veteran journalist Bob Woodward\u2019s new book raised further questions about the former US president\u2019s relationship with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. <\/p>\n
The Trump administration \u201csent us several samples of test kits,\u201d Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday, broadly supporting Woodward\u2019s claim. His intervention comes after Trump denied the claims, telling ABC News they were \u201cfalse.\u201d <\/p>\n
Legendary reporter Woodward wrote in \u201cWar\u201d that Trump \u201csecretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cPlease don\u2019t tell anybody you sent these to me,\u201d Putin said to Trump, according to Woodward. \u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d Trump replied. \u201cFine.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cNo, no,\u201d Putin said. \u201cI don\u2019t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don\u2019t care about me.\u201d <\/p>\n
Peskov did not confirm whether or not those tests were specifically for Putin\u2019s own use, as Woodward writes. <\/p>\n
The Kremlin\u2019s press secretary said: \u201cAt that time, the pandemic was starting, and the situation was very difficult for all countries. <\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, initially, all countries tried to exchange aid shipments with each other,\u201d he continued. \u201cAt that time, we sent a shipment of ventilators to the United States, and the Americans sent us several samples of test kits, as those were practically unique items. Many countries were doing the same.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Kremlin\u2019s response seemingly contradicts Trump\u2019s denial of Woodward\u2019s claims. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a storyteller. A bad one. And he\u2019s lost his marbles,\u201d Trump told ABC News of Woodward on Tuesday. In a statement, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump gave Woodward \u201cabsolutely no access\u201d for the book. \u201cNone of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Citing a Trump aide, Woodward also reported that there have been \u201cmaybe as many as seven\u201d calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left the White House in 2021. Peskov denied those claims, saying: \u201cThat is not true; it did not happen.\u201d Trump also denied those claims to ABC News. <\/p>\n
The frantic first weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic led to a diplomatic opening for Putin; the Trump White House was criticized at the time for purchasing medical supplies from Moscow, a move that was described by experts as a propaganda win for the Kremlin. <\/p>\n
The Trump administration also spent $200 million sending thousands of ventilators around the world, starting weeks after the former president touted America as the \u201cking of ventilators,\u201d but without any established way to locate them, the Government Accountability Office found in a report. Russia was among the countries to receive those ventilators. <\/p>\n
Woodward\u2019s claims once again throw scrutiny on Trump\u2019s relationship with Putin, weeks before the US presidential election. <\/p>\n
They were quickly seized on by Democratic candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris, who said in an interview with Howard Stern: \u201cPeople were dying by the hundreds. Everybody was scrambling to get these (test) kits \u2026 and this guy who was President of the United States is sending them to Russia? To a murderous dictator, for his personal use?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re getting played,\u201d Harris said of Trump. <\/p>\n
Trump has, for his part, continued to speak fondly of his relationship with Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 made him a pariah among Western leaders. <\/p>\n
\u201cI got along well with him. I hope to get along well with him again,\u201d Trump said during an interview on X with billionaire Elon Musk. Trump added that getting along well with strongmen world leaders \u201cis a good thing.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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