'Don't tell anybody': Bob Woodward book claims Putin urged Trump to keep quiet about gifthttps://t.co/Z4bcwdLDQg
— Raw Story (@RawStory) October 8, 2024
Trump & Putin
A new book from legendary Watergate journalist Bob Woodward reveals that former President Donald Trump in 2020 sent Russian President Vladimir Putin a secret stash of COVID-19 tests during the early days of the deadly pandemic that would go on to kill more than one million Americans.
CNN reports that Woodward's new book, entitled "War," claims that Trump "secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use."
What's more, writes Woodward, Putin urged Trump not to boast publicly about sending such equipment to him.
"Please don't tell anybody you sent these to me," Putin said, according to Woodward's sources.
"I don't care," Trump said in response. "Fine."
"No, no," Putin said. "I don't want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don't care about me."
And that's not all -- according to one of Woodward's sources, Trump kept in frequent contact with the former Russian president after leaving office.
"According to Trump's aide, there have been multiple phone calls between Trump and Putin, maybe as many as seven in the period since Trump left the White House in 2021," Woodward writes.
Biden & Netanyahu
“That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad fucking guy!” Biden declared privately about the Israeli prime minister to one of his associates in the spring of 2024 as Israel’s war in Gaza intensified, Woodward writes.
“What’s your strategy, man?” Biden asked Netanyahu during an April phone call, Woodward reports.
“We have to go into Rafah,” Netanyahu said.
“Bibi, you’ve got no strategy.” Biden responded.
Biden told Netanyahu on a call to “take the win,” though the Israeli prime minister pushed back. “You don’t need to make another move. Do nothing,” Biden said.
In the end, Israel launched a limited, calibrated strike against Iran, which Biden considered a win.
“I know he’s going to do something but the way I limit it is tell him to ‘Do nothing,’” Biden told his advisers, according to Woodward.
But Biden’s frustration with Netanyahu boiled over as the war continued to escalate.
“He’s a fucking liar,” Biden said privately of Netanyahu, after Israel went into Rafah, Woodward writes.
“Bibi, what the fuck?” Biden yelled at Netanyahu in July after an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hezbollah military commander and three civilians in Beirut, according to Woodward.
“You know the perception of Israel around the world increasingly is that you’re a rogue state, a rogue actor,” Biden said to Netanyahu.
Netanyahu responded that the target was “one of the leading terrorists.”
“We saw an opportunity and took it,” Netanyahu said. “The harder you hit, the more successful you’re going to be in the negotiation.”
Biden & Putin
“That fucking Putin,” Biden said to advisers in the Oval Office not long after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Woodward. “Putin is evil. We are dealing with the epitome of evil.”
Biden criticized former President Barack Obama’s handling of Putin’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, concluding that “Barack never took Putin seriously.”
“They fucked up in 2014,” Biden said to a friend, according to Woodward. “That’s why we are here. We fucked it up. Barack never took Putin seriously.”
Biden added, “We did nothing. We gave Putin a license to continue!” Biden was angry: “Well, I’m revoking his fucking license!”
