"A bombshell story from a forthcoming book by veteran journalist Bob Woodward today revealed that in 2020, when he was president, Trump secretly shipped Covid-19 testing equipment to Russian president Vladimir Putin for his own personal use at a time when Americans could not get it."
~ Heather Cox Richardson
"A Trump aide told Woodward that Trump and Putin have spoken as many as seven times since Trump left the White House, prompting Edward Luce of the Financial Times to comment: 'What possible business could an out-of-office U.S. president have to call Vladimir Putin seven times?' Woodward recounts a moment when Trump told a senior aide to leave the room so 'he could have what he said was a private phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin.'"
As Brad Reed reports, though Trump and his folks immediately denied that he had sent Putin Covid testing machines, the Kremlin has confirmed that Trump, in fact, did just that.
"Though the US and Russia did share medical equipment such as ventilators in the early stages of the pandemic, Trump’s decision to send Putin Covid testing machines would probably have proved hugely controversial if known.
Apparently recognizing this, Putin reportedly told Trump: 'Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me.'”
~ Martin Pengelly
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/08/trump-putin-covid-test-machines-bob-woodward
"I think there are two key words here — not only according to Woodward's book did Trump send some to Putin — but it was a secret shipment for Putin's personal use.'"
~ Jamie Gangel
Gangel is highlighting the words "personal use."
“'Everybody was scrambling to get these kits,' she said, adding, 'This guy who is president of the United States is sending them to Russia, to a murderous dictator, for his personal use.'"
~ Kamala Harris
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/10/08/us/harris-trump-election
"Let me get this straight, according to Bob Woodward’s new book War, Donald Trump was sitting in Mar-a-Lago on a trove of stolen U.S. national secrets and while there, had Vladimir Putin on speed dial for regular private chats? After he tried to overthrow our government?
And Putin is helping his campaign now by flooding our electorate with toxic disinformation? And there are people who would actually vote for this guy?"
~ David Rothkopf
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-having-putin-on-speed-dial-isnt-funny-its-terrifying
"Trump's continued 'off the record' contacts with Vladimir Putin are presumptively nefarious—especially at a time when US has seized 30 Russian websites that were attempting to influence the US presidential election in favor of Trump."
~ Robert B. Hubbell
https://open.substack.com/pub/roberthubbell/p/russia-russia-russia-its-always-russia
"The most infuriating 'scoop' that wasn’t revealed to the public but instead was safely nestled in the book to sell more copies is Woodward’s nugget that Trump sent Covid-19 testing equipment to Putin for his personal use during the early days of the pandemic."
~ Wajahat Ali
https://thelefthook.substack.com/p/shame-on-bob-woodward-and-a-pox-on
"This was when Americans were dying and health care professionals were in desperate need of medical supplies & masks which were lacking due to the Trump Administration’s reckless delay to invoke the Defense Production Act. Let’s never forget that Trump knew how deadly Covid was but decided to lie to the public and downplayed the threat because he was afraid it would hurt his re-election chances. How do we know that? Thanks to Bob Woodward who has Trump confessing it on tape."
"This means that even when out of office, Trump is willing to provide any information, ingratiate himself by telling Putin what he wants to hear, and use any influence and power he has to try to work with Vladimir Putin, all at the detriment of the United States. I have no doubt that Trump used these calls to promise all sorts of policies and favors to Putin and took every opportunity to argue against the decisions of the current administration."
"This country deserves a leader that won't take private calls with a dictator and sabotage the country out of pettiness and spite. There’s only one real choice for U.S. national security, it’s Harris/Walz.
#werenotgoingback
"Donald’s ties to Russia go way back—from visits to Moscow and his willingness to launder Russian oligarch money. It was in the lead-up to the 2016 election, however, that his relationship with Putin became a serious national security concern. At the time, our own intelligence agencies warned American voters that Russia, with the help of the Trump campaign, was interfering in the 2016 election."
~ Mary Trump
