Trump Secretly Stayed in Touch With Putin After Leaving Office, Book Says

Former President Donald J. Trump has secretly spoken with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as many as seven times since leaving office, even as he was pressuring Republicans to block military aid to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders, according to a new book by the journalist Bob Woodward.

The book, titled “War” and scheduled to be published next week, describes a scene in early 2024 at Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s estate in Florida, when the former president ordered an aide out of his office so he could conduct a phone call with Mr. Putin. The unidentified aide said the two may have spoken a half-dozen other times as well since Mr. Trump left the White House.

The book also reports that Mr. Trump, while still in office early during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, secretly sent Mr. Putin what were then rare tests for the virus for the Russian’s personal use. Mr. Putin, who has been described as particularly concerned about being infected at the time, urged Mr. Trump to not publicly reveal the gesture because it could damage the American president politically. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me,” Mr. Putin reportedly told him.

The disclosures raise new questions about Mr. Trump’s relationship with Mr. Putin just weeks before an election that will determine whether the former president will reclaim the White House. A copy of the book was obtained by The New York Times. The Washington Post, where Mr. Woodward has worked for more than half a century, and CNN, where he often appears as a commentator, also reported on the book on Tuesday.

Mr. Trump praised Mr. Putin as a “genius” when he initiated the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and since then has refused to say that he wants Ukraine to win its war against Russia. He has criticized American aid to Ukraine and leaned on congressional Republicans not to approve more assistance. He has boasted that if he wins he will negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine within 24 hours and do so even before the inauguration.

Mr. Trump has not explained how he would do so, but possible terms described last month by his running mate, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, sounded a lot like what Mr. Putin would want. Mr. Vance said that Russia could keep the Ukrainian territory it has seized by force in violation of international law and receive a “guarantee of neutrality” from Ukraine, which would not be allowed to join NATO.

Mr. Woodward’s book does not report what Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin discussed in the call in early 2024, nor does it provide details about the additional calls mentioned by the Trump aide. It quotes Jason Miller, a top campaign aide to Mr. Trump, saying that he had “not heard that they’re talking, so I’d push back on that.” But he also said that “I’m sure they’d know how to get in touch with each other” if they did want to talk.