Trump spoke to Putin as many as 7 times since leaving office, Bob Woodward reports in new book

WASHINGTON (AP) — 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 “War.”

In the famed Watergate reporter’s latest book, Woodward reports that Trump asked an aide to leave his office at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, so that the former president could have a private call with Putin in early 2024. The aide, whom Woodward doesn’t name, said there have been multiple calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left office, perhaps as many as seven in that period, according to the book.

Woodward also 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 didn’t care if anyone knew, according to the book. Trump ended up agreeing not to tell anyone.

Steven Cheung, Trump’s communications director, derided the reporting as “made up stories” and said the book is a work of fiction that could double as toilet paper.

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“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 in a statement.

He added: “President Trump gave him absolutely no access for this trash book that either belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section of a discount bookstore or used as toilet tissue. Woodward is a total sleazebag who has lost it mentally, and he’s slow, lethargic, incompetent and overall a boring person with no personality.”

A copy of the book, which is due out next week, was obtained early by The Associated Press. CNN first reported on the contents of the book Tuesday.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has spoken to or met with several foreign leaders since leaving office, most recently meeting in New York with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy amid rising public tensions between the two over Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion.

Trump has said he wants to have “peace” and that the war must end. The former president has been critical of U.S. support for Ukraine and said the country 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 “pretty smart” for invading Ukraine.”

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Price reported from New York. Associated Press writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report.