Trump sent Putin COVID testing equipment during pandemic shortage, Woodward book reports: NPR

Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-President Donald Trump shake hands before a meeting July 16, 2018 in Helsinki. A new book by journalist Bob Woodward reports that Trump secretly shared COVID-19 tests with Putin in 2020.

Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

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Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Vice President Harris criticizes Donald Trump after journalist Bob Woodward newly reported that the former president secretly shared COVID-19 testing equipment with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time in 2020 when testing was out of reach for most Americans.

The revelation was first reported by CNN and The Washington Post on Tuesday, is detailed in a forthcoming book titled War Book by the famous Watergate journalist about Trump's record on the international stage and that of President Biden.

According to the book, Trump sent the secret shipment of testing equipment to the Russian leader at the height of the pandemic in 2020, despite crippling shortages of testing kits in the U.S. and other countries.

“I don’t want you to tell anyone because then people will get mad at you, not me. “You don’t care about me,” Putin told Trump, according to the book. Trump responded, according to Woodward: “I don’t care. Good.”

NPR has not independently verified the report because it was based on interviews with unnamed sources.

When asked about the report in an interview with Howard Stern on Tuesday, Harris said Woodward's reporting was an example of why Trump can't be trusted as commander in chief, saying he was easily manipulated by authoritarian regimes with which he wants to make friends.

“He admires strong men, and he is played by them because he thinks they are his friends, and they manipulate him full-time and manipulate him through flattery and favor,” Harris said. “Remember, people died because of this. Hundreds, everyone was eager to get these kits… and this guy who was president of the United States is sending them to Russia to a murderous dictator for his personal use.”

The Trump campaign dismissed the book as “fictional stories” written by a “crazy man,” according to a statement from its communications director Steven Cheung.

“President Trump has given him absolutely no access to this garbage book that either belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section of a discount bookstore or is used as toilet paper,” the statement said.

Woodward's reporting adds to the swirl of questions that have surrounded Trump about his relationship with Putin since his 2016 campaign for the White House, when he publicly called on Russia to find Hillary Clinton's missing emails. Trump has defended his stance against Putin, claiming that Russia would not have invaded Ukraine in 2022 if he had still been in office.

It's a relationship that appears to have continued even after Trump left the White House, according to Woodward, who reports that the former president may have spoken to Putin up to seven times since Biden took office.

In an episode reported by Woodward, Trump ordered an aide to leave his Mar-a-Lago office to have a private conversation with Putin in early 2024.

The book also details pivotal moments in Biden's presidency, including the administration's response to the war in Ukraine and Biden's strained relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Woodward recounts the president's frustration with Netanyahu amid the ongoing war in Gaza, as he concluded that Netanyahu's instinct for political survival outweighed his interest in defeating Hamas.

“That damn son, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a villain. He’s a bad guy!” According to Woodward, Biden is said to have told his advisers this.

Asked about the anecdote, the White House declined to comment, but deputy press secretary Emilie Simons said U.S.-Israel relations are “as strong as ever” and said Biden and Netanyahu have a long and open relationship.

“They can have very honest and straightforward conversations with each other,” Simons said.