Trump disputes report that, as president, he secretly sent Putin COVID-19 testing kit
Former President Donald Trump is disputing a report that he has had "as many as seven" phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin since he left the White House, and that, back when he was in office, Trump secretly sent Putin a COVID-19 testing kit for his personal use.
Journalist Bob Woodward wrote about the alleged interactions between Trump and Putin in his soon-to-be released book, titled "War," according to the Washington Post and CNN.
Woodward reportedly cited an anonymous Trump aide as the source for his reporting regarding Trump maintaining contact with Putin after leaving the White House.
In the book, Woodward reportedly wrote that Trump sent a COVID-19 testing kit to Putin at a point in the pandemic when tests were in short supply -- and that, after Putin received the kit, he told Trump, "I don't want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me."
Trump told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl that neither happened.
"That's false," Trump said of Woodward's report that he had spoken with Putin after leaving office, and that he had earlier sent Putin a COVID test.
"He's a storyteller. A bad one. And he's lost his marbles," Trump said of Woodward.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung categorically denied Woodward's accounts, calling them "made-up stories" and stressing that Trump did not provide any "access" to Woodward 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.
"President Trump gave him absolutely no access for this trash book," Cheung said.
