Former President Donald Trump has had multiple private phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving White House in 2021, according to a CNN report citing longtime journalist Bob Woodward's new book.
In the book, titled “War,” Woodward writes there have been "maybe as many as seven" private phone calls between the two men, according to a Trump aide. The former president also sent Putin COVID-19 tests for his own personal use, according to the aide.
The same aide was told to leave the room in Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence so the former president could have a “private phone call” with the Russian president, Woodward recounts in the book.
Spokesman Steven Cheung told The Hill “None of these made up stories by Bob Woodward are true.”
The book, a copy of which was obtained by CNN, also includes a behind-the-scenes look at President Joe Biden's administration as it navigated unprecedented international crises, including the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Woodward interviewed dozens of sources to explore Biden’s personal battles and revealed the president’s confrontational interactions with some of the world’s most infamous leaders.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Woodward writes that the Biden administration didn’t really believe the invasion would happen. When they realized it was, in fact, imminent, Woodward writes that Biden was shocked.
“Jesus Christ! Now I’ve got to deal with Russia swallowing Ukraine?” Biden said.
When Vice President Kamala Harris tried to warn Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he didn’t believe her, Woodward writes.
After Israel began the invasion of Gaza on Oct. 13, 2023, Woodward writes that Biden had many arguments with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the war, despite the United States supporting Israel publicly.
“Bibi, you’ve got no strategy,” Biden told Netanyahu during a phone call in April, Woodward reports.
After an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hezbollah official in Lebanon in July, Biden exploded. “Bibi, what the f**k?” he yelled at Netanyahu, Woodward writes.
“You know the perception of Israel around the world increasingly is that you’re a rogue state, a rogue actor,” Biden said to Netanyahu.
“War” is set to be released Oct. 15.
