John AdoyiIn a startling revelation, the Russian government has confirmed that the Trump administration sent COVID-19 test kits to President Vladimir Putin during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, raising significant questions about former President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and his upcoming bid for the White House.
Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov disclosed to reporters on Thursday that the US had provided “several samples of test kits,” corroborating claims made by veteran journalist Bob Woodward in his forthcoming book, “War.” The book alleges that Trump discreetly sent Abbott Point of Care COVID test machines to Putin for his personal use, with the former president reportedly responding to Putin’s request for secrecy by saying, “I don’t care.”
Join our WhatsApp Channel“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Woodward recounts Putin saying. Trump allegedly dismissed the concern. While Peskov did not confirm whether the kits were specifically intended for Putin, he explained that the exchange of medical supplies was common among nations grappling with the pandemic. “At that time, the pandemic was starting, and the situation was very difficult for all countries,” he stated. He added that the US sent test kits after Russia had previously provided ventilators to the US.
Adding to the controversy, Woodward’s book suggests that Trump and Putin maintained a close relationship, citing an aide who claimed there were “maybe as many as seven” calls between the two since Trump left office in January 2021. Peskov denied this assertion, saying, “That is not true; it did not happen.”
In response to the revelations, Trump vehemently denied the allegations during an interview with ABC News, labeling Woodward a “storyteller” and claiming the assertions were “false.” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung also issued a strong criticism, calling Woodward’s accounts “made-up stories” and declaring that Trump had not provided any access for the book.
“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.
This latest controversy raises the stakes in the scrutiny of Trump’s ties to Putin, which date back to his 2016 presidential campaign when he publicly urged Russia to find missing emails from his opponent, Hillary Clinton.
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Throughout his presidency, Trump often praised Putin, calling him a “great leader,” raising eyebrows among critics concerned about U.S. foreign policy.
Bob Woodward is a renowned American investigative journalist and author, best known for his work at The Washington Post. He gained national fame in the early 1970s for his reporting on the Watergate scandal, which ultimately led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Along with his reporting partner Carl Bernstein, Woodward’s investigation uncovered widespread corruption and abuse of power in the Nixon administration.
