Trump changes his mind during secret talks with Vladimir Putin

Donald Trump's interactions with Russian President Vladimir Putin have long been scandalous, but last week the story took an unexpected turn thanks to new allegations in Bob Woodward's new book.

In summary, Woodward claims in his book that the former Republican president secretly sent Covid-19 testing equipment to Putin during his time in office at the height of the pandemic, even as people in his own country struggled to gain access to such resources. The book, citing a source close to Trump, also quotes that the former president and the Russian leader have had direct conversations “up to seven times” since he left the White House.

The GOP candidate denied the allegations, but not in detail. A statement from a Trump spokesman simply said that the claims in the book were untrue, before attacking the author with a series of strange and personal attacks. The Kremlin, in turn, said Trump sent Covid tests but disputed Woodward's reporting of the phone calls. (Of course, the Kremlin is notorious for spreading disinformation, so it's difficult to give much weight to its statements on the subject.)

That was last week. This week, Trump's line was significantly different. NBC News reported:

At an event at the Economic Club of Chicago with Bloomberg News, Trump said he would not comment on whether or not he called Putin multiple times after leaving office. “Well, I'm not commenting on that, but I'm telling you if I did, it would be a smart thing to do,” he said. “When I’m kind to people. If I can have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing in terms of a country, but not a bad thing.”

Of course, this was not an explicit endorsement, but given the comments, the qualifications, and the tone in which he made his comments, it is hardly an exaggeration to find the claims made in Woodward's book credible.

And that, of course, raises a number of related questions. If Trump and Putin had a series of secret chats — conversations the Republican now considers “smart” — then how many interactions did the two have? Did Trump offer briefings to the US intelligence community and the State Department after the talks?

Did the two discuss U.S. policy toward Ukraine? Did Trump make any promises or guarantees to his patron in Moscow? Did the former president say or do anything during the discussions that directly or indirectly undermined his own country's foreign policy agenda?

Did Trump violate the Logan Act, which prohibits private citizens from communicating with foreign leaders “with the intent to influence the actions or conduct of a foreign government or any official or agent thereof relating to any dispute or controversy with the United States.” “to thwart the actions of the United States”?

Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, joined an all-out live broadcast of syndicated radio host Charlamagne Tha God, and the discussion centered on the allegations made in Woodward's book.

As NBC News reported, the Democratic candidate said Trump was someone who “admired dictators” and at the height of the pandemic “sent Covid tests that no one could get to the president of Russia for his personal use when a black man died.” hundreds every day.”

“Do you remember the number of people who have lost their grandparents and parents?” she continued. “People were looking for resources and needed tests, and Donald Trump secretly sent Covid tests to the president of Russia.”

This controversy is far from over.

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