There are only a few weeks until the U.S. presidential election where the nation will decide between Vice President Kamala Harris and Former President Donald Trump. The last few months have been nothing short of eventful and tense with surprising candidate supporters, violent incidents, new information popping up, and a general closeness in the polls. Another development comes just this week as Bob Woodward, an American journalist who formerly worked for the Washington Post, released a book titled “War.” The book mostly discusses the Biden Presidency and the current president’s interactions with world leaders, actions in the war room, and his choice to step down from running again for the presidency. However, the book also brings up information from an anonymous aide about Trump’s tie with Vladimir Putin following Trump’s presidency.
According to Bob Woodward’s “War,” Trump is reported to have had at least seven private calls with Putin since the end of his presidential term. Additionally, it is claimed that Trump secretly sent COVID-19 test kits to the Russian President for his personal use during the pandemic in 2020. ABC News in a report stated that both Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung and Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov have denied these claims. Woodward in his book also noted that he could not verify them with other sources.
Trump has previously spoken to Woodward regarding his book “Rage” which was released in 2021. According to the Associated Press, Trump sued Woodward over the book “claiming Woodward never had permission to publicly release recordings of their interviews for the book.” However, Woodward and the publisher denied these claims.
Many have still become suspicious following Woodward’s claims in “War” due to former assertions regarding Trump and Putin’s relationship, and if they are true, the implications are possibly cause for concern. In another article by the New York Times discussing reactions to the book, it is noted that “Former presidents often speak with foreign leaders, but it would be highly unusual for one to talk with an avowed adversary of the United States on the opposite side of a war without clearing it with the White House or State Department first.”
Trump, in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait in Chicago this past Tuesday, when asked about the claims stated, “Well, I don’t comment on that, but I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing.” He followed this up further by saying, “If I’m friendly with people, if I have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing, in terms of a country.” Micklethwait pressed him again noting that his comment sounded as if he had been communicating with Putin, but Trump once again said he does not talk about that. To support the notion that he is tough on Russia, Trump commented how he opposed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that connects Germany and Russia and would further Germany’s dependence on Russian oil and gas.
All this adds to many considerations that voters have for this coming election, and time is running short before the decision will be in the nation’s hands. Registration for voting in the November elections in New Jersey has now ended. Early voting is from October 26 to November 3, and in-person voting is November 5.
This article was edited 10/22/24.
