Trump secretly sent covid tests to Putin during 2020 shortage, new book says

[Mr. Sparkle]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Washington Post

As the coronavirus tore through the world in 2020, and the United States and other countries confronted a shortage of tests designed to detect the illness, then-President Donald Trump secretly sent coveted tests to Russian President Vladimir Putin for his personal use.

Putin, petrified of the virus, accepted the supplies but took pains to prevent political fallout — not for him, but for his American counterpart. He cautioned Trump not to reveal that he had dispatched the scarce medical equipment to Moscow, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward.

Putin, according to the book, told Trump, “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me.”

Four years later, the personal relationship between the two men appears to have persisted, Woodward reports, as Trump campaigns to return to the White House and Putin orchestrates his bloody assault on Ukraine. In early 2024, the former president ordered an aide away from his office at Mar-a-Lago, his private club and residence in Florida, so he could conduct a private phone call with the Russian leader, according to Woodward’s account.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/08/bob-woodward-new-book-war-trump-putin-biden/

[Botany]

1. When did Woodward know about this?

Before the 2020 election?

I bet Trump didn’t send the C-19 test kits that he and Jared produced that didn’t work but the German
made ones from the W.H.O..

[underpants]

3. "War" is actually about Biden's administration

So it was after 2020.

Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand participants, “War” is filled with newly reported details of high-stakes showdowns. The book explores the political and personal wars that Biden has fought during his presidency, including details about his decision to step aside from the 2024 campaign and conversations about his son Hunter Biden’s legal troubles.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/08/politics/bob-woodward-book-war-joe-biden-putin-netanyahu-trump/index.html

[Bayard]

6. Thanks for posting this

An eye-opening report, especially in regards to what he actually thinks about some people. Liberal use of, "fucking!"

The frustrating thing about books like this is that so much of it is here say, not direct quotes. I know he can't name sources, but, it would be good to know just how close these people were.

[ificandream]

10. Not totally about Biden, since the allegation Trump sent Covid tests to Putin was during his administration.

[underpants]

11. Well, this is Woodward's Biden book

Every POTUS let’s Bob in for a book.

[Hekate]

13. Lengthy article, no paywall, was able to download to read later. Thanks!

[Bayard]

2. Pay site

Who told Woodward this, and has it been confirmed?

[underpants]

4. See post 3

There’s a good long CNN article about it

[central scrutinizer]

9. NYTimes has it, too

[bluestarone]

5. He did this, while

Telling Americans to drink BLEACH!!

[riversedge]

7. Trump and Putin are pals-each wants the other alive to help them.

[Tarzanrock]

8. This Traitor-Turd cared more for the Russians ...

... than for the American people -- the 100 million who suffered from Covid and the one million plus who died because of his criminal malfeasance and misfeasance in office. What a horrible, terrible piece of stinking shit this Traitor-Turd has been and still is!

[maxsolomon]

12. So, he literally had an opportunity to kill Putin (who would have had to swab his nose to use the test).

No Putin, no war in Ukraine, 100s of 1,000s not dead.

[Cirsium]

14. But of course he did

President Donald Trump said Saturday he’s asked his administration to slow down coronavirus testing because robust testing turns up too many cases of COVID-19. Trump told supporters at his campaign rally that the U.S. has tested 25 million people, far more than any other country. The “bad part,” Trump said, is that widespread testing leads to logging more cases of the virus. “When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people, you’re going to find more cases,” Trump said. “So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.’ They test and they test.”

AP June 21, 2020

https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-donald-trump-ap-top-news-joe-biden-tulsa-476068bd60e9048303b736e9d7fc6572

[Snoopy 7]

15. Don't forget

During the beginning of the COVID pandemic there was a short release saying trump sent respiratory equipment and PPE to china. I haven’t researched it again it’s just a memory of what was happening during the start of COVID-19.

[peppertree]

16. AND he rushed 10 million vaccines EACH to Isreal and the UAE

(one for each man, woman, and child in those countries)

This was in December 2020 - when not even our first responders could get their hands on any.

And our hard-charging media? Crickets.

[Omaha Steve]

17. AFTER a review by forum hosts LOCKING

DUPE of https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143319212

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