The Kremlin has confirmed that former President Trump sent Russian President Vladimir Putin COVID-19 testing devices while he was in office during the height of the pandemic.
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The story was first revealed this week in a report from CNN about journalist Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book, “War.”
In the book, Woodward described several interactions between world leaders, including Trump, Putin, President Joe Biden, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In a statement provided to Bloomberg on Wednesday, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov shared that the tests were sent but claimed that other stories in the book were not true.
“We also sent equipment at the beginning of the pandemic,” Peskov said in a statement to Bloomberg.
In the book, Woodward reports that Trump sent the tests to Putin at his request while also not talking publicly about it, as the Russian President wanted to keep it a secret.
Trump obliged and reportedly sent the tests.
He also writes about Trump’s relationship with Putin, noting that since he left office in 2021, the two have had “maybe as many as seven” calls, according to a Trump aide. However, Peskov noted that this wasn’t the case.
“But about the phone calls — it’s not true,” he wrote to Bloomberg.
Despite the Kremlin’s confirmation about the tests being sent, Trump’s campaign’s communications director, Steven Cheung, maintained the stories were not true, saying Trump gave Woodward “no access.”
“None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true,” Cheung said.
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