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The White House commented on a publication by American journalist and editor of The Washington Post, Bob Woodward, which detailed a series of secret phone conversations between former U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During a briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the matter, noting that she could not confirm the facts of these calls but added that, if true, it would be of serious concern.
“Do we have serious concerns? Yes, if this is true. Again, I cannot confirm any of these calls,” she said.
Jean-Pierre emphasized that the possibility of such conversations is particularly troubling, especially considering Trump’s opposition to increasing aid to Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression.
Woodward’s book The War mentions at least seven conversations between Putin and Trump after Trump left the White House. An unnamed aide to Trump, quoted in the book, indicated that the former president may have communicated with Putin as many as seven times after leaving office in 2021.
The book also reveals that in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump allegedly sent Putin “scarce” COVID-19 tests for personal use.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung dismissed the stories in Woodward’s book as “completely false,” suggesting the book “should either be on clearance in the fiction section of a discount bookstore or used as toilet paper.”
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