- New book alleges Trump spoke to Putin seven times after leaving office
- The former president was asked about it during a campaign event
- READ MORE: Follow today’s latest political developments on our live blog
Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to answer questions about whether or not he had spoken to Vladimir Putin after leaving office, but then immediately muddied the waters by saying it would have been a smart thing if he had.
Veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book claims the former president has been in contact with the hardline Russian leader several times, speaking at least seven times since leaving the White House.
The accusations reignited questions about Trump’s relationship with one of the nation’s adversaries.
He was asked to respond to the claims during an economic forum in Chicago.
“I don’t comment on that, but I will tell you that if I did, it would be a smart thing to do,” Trump said with one of his trademark open-ended responses.
Former President Donald Trump
He continued to explain his reasons for confronting the enemies.
‘If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. …He has 2,000 nuclear weapons, and so do we.”
Woodward’s book “War” was published Tuesday.
In excerpts released last week, an anonymous aide is quoted as saying that the former president and current Republican candidate was speaking to Putin at the same time as calling on Republicans to block further aid to Ukraine in its war with Moscow.
He also revealed that Trump, during his time in office, sent Covid-19 testing kits to Putin during the early days of the pandemic.
The Trump campaign quickly denied all claims.
But the Kremlin has since confirmed that Trump did send evidence.
Trump claims that the United States would benefit from its relationship with Putin, allowing the two nations to reduce tension.
Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait asked Trump about the claims during an interview at an economic forum in Chicago on Tuesday.
Bob Woodward’s new book claims Trump spoke to Putin seven times after leaving office
Woodward’s latest book is published this week by Simon and Schuster
At the same time, he has said that he would end the war in Ukraine on day one.
On Monday night, during a truncated town hall event in Pennsylvania, he went even further by suggesting he would take action even before being sworn in as president.
He accused Biden of doing nothing to end the war.
“He hasn’t even spoken to Putin in over a year. He doesn’t know anything about it,’ he said.
‘And this is a war that has to end, and we are going to end that war.
“I’m going to try and I think I can get this over with as president-elect, in other words, before I even take over the White House.”
The idea has alarmed the Ukrainian government, which fears that Trump will cut off weapons supplies and insist on reaching a deal with Russia that could involve it ceding territory.
The books detail a series of other allegations about foreign policy under Trump and President Joe Biden.