Former President Donald Trump has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin seven times since leaving the White House, including this year, according to a new report by journalist Bob Woodward.
In her upcoming book, War, Woodward provides a dramatic account of the White House under President Joe Biden and Trump, detailing elements of their relationship. foreign leaders. The book is scheduled to be published on October 15.
The book details how Trump’s relationship with Putin continued as he made another bid for the White House and amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In one scene, Woodward recounts how he ordered Trump’s top aide to leave his private office at Mar-a-Lago this year to “have, as he said, a private phone call” with the Russian leader. Woodward, an aide who sat outside in the hallway as the two spoke, said Trump and Putin had “maybe as many as seven” phone conversations since Trump left office in 2021.
The account is transferred to an anonymous assistant and does not provide additional information. Trump’s campaign did not respond to a direct request for comment on whether Trump has had any conversations with Putin since leaving office. In an emailed statement, Trump’s communications director, Stephen Cheung, personally attacked Woodward and claimed the book was made up of “fabricated stories.”
Woodward also includes an account of Trump’s time in the White House when he sent testing equipment for the virus to Putin at the height of the pandemic.
The book raises new questions about Trump’s claim that if elected, he would end the war in Ukraine, perhaps before taking office. He said last month that his relationship with Putin was “very good” and he said the same thing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. the two met at Trump Tower last month. As a private citizen, Trump would need the express permission of the sitting president to negotiate on behalf of the US government, and Woodward says he is looking into the issue with a Trump aide.
According to Woodward, senior adviser Jason Miller told him in July that he was “not aware” of any conversations between Trump and Putin, but that if they wanted to talk, they would “know how to communicate with each other.”
“[J]Be very careful that we don’t say they’re in a relationship or something,” Woodward Miller told him. “For the purpose of ending the war?” Woodward asked. According to the author, “But that won’t happen until President Trump wins on November 5 and it’s clear he’s going to get in.” “After Nov. 5, I think President Trump will be able to resolve it, or largely resolve it, by the time he’s sworn in.”
The revelations come just weeks before Election Day, when Trump is running for the White House against Vice President Kamala Harris, which could determine the future of US support for Ukraine. NBC News obtained a copy of the book.
The book also raises further questions about how Trump would handle the war in Ukraine if re-elected, and whether he would continue aid to Ukraine, as Harris said he would. Before his meeting with Zelensky last month, Trump told reporters that he would help reach a deal that was “good for both sides.” Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, He sharply criticized the allocation of funds by the United States to Ukraine and Zelensky himself. There are critics taken a long time issue with Trump’s comfort with authoritarian leadersincluding Putin. Trump called Putin “very smart” and “strong man” and praised him Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “genius”.
Vaughn Hillyard, Jake Traylor and Jesse Rodriguez contributed.