The Daily Populous Wednesday October 9th, 2024 evening edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by M795

Former President Donald Trump sent coronavirus testing devices to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the height of the pandemic, the Kremlin claimed Wednesday in a statement.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told Bloomberg News in a written statement that “we also sent equipment at the beginning of the pandemic.” The Kremlin did not respond to NBC News' request for comment.

The story was initially reported in “War,” a new book by veteran Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, which reports on Trump and President Joe Biden’s relationships with foreign leaders.

The book claims that Trump secretly sent Abbott Covid-19 testing devices to Putin when the machines were in short supply. NBC News has not been able to independently verify this.

Peskov also denied Woodward's claim that Trump and Putin have spoken on the telephone several times since Trump left office. “No, that’s not true,” he told Russian outlet RBC.

Trump also denied the reporting in an interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl. “He’s a storyteller. A bad one. And he’s lost his marbles,” Trump said of Woodward.

In a separate statement to Bloomberg, Trump's re-election team accused the journalist of bias and said “none of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true.”

The book, which is set to be published Oct. 15, raises questions about how Trump would handle the war in Ukraine if re-elected and whether he would continue to provide aid to the country.

Trump has repeatedly said he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day if he’s elected president again. But when he was asked about this claim in July, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia told reporters that “the Ukrainian crisis cannot be solved in one day.”

The Republican nominee said last month that his relationship with Putin is “very good.” He said the same of his ties to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when the two met at Trump Tower last month.

As a private citizen, Trump would need the sitting president’s express permission to negotiate on behalf of the U.S. government.

Woodward says in the book that senior adviser Jason Miller told him in July that he was “not aware” of any conversations between Trump and Putin, but should they wish to speak, “they’d know how to get in touch with each other.”

Trump’s critics have long taken issue with his coziness with authoritarian leaders, including Putin. Trump has referred to Putin as “very savvy” and a “strong man,” and praised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “genius.”

YuriNeytor on October 9th, 2024 at 12:41 UTC »

It's highly concerning that a not insignificant amount of Americans put their trust in a Russian dictator.

scratchydaitchy on October 9th, 2024 at 12:40 UTC »

Trump said last month his relationship with Putin was "very good" and if elected he would end the war in Ukraine "in one day" lol.

If anyone thinks Trump and Putin have not talked on the phone in almost 4 years I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell them.

OldBoots on October 9th, 2024 at 12:15 UTC »

They also 'endorsed' Harris, and denied that they would invade Ukraine. Both are pathological liars.