Trump responds to Bob Woodward’s claims he has spoken to Putin multiple times since leaving White House

Donald Trump refused to answer questions on Tuesday about whether or not he had spoken to Vladimir Putin after leaving office, but then immediately muddied the water by saying it would have been smart if he had.

Veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book claims the former president has had multiple contacts with the hardline Russian leader, speaking at least seven times since leaving the White House.

The allegations once again raised questions about Trump’s relationship with one of the country’s adversaries.

He was asked to answer 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 smart,” Trump said in one of his trademark open-ended answers.

He then explained his rationale for dealing with enemies.”

“If I’m friends with people, if I have relationships with people, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing. … He has two thousand nuclear weapons, and so do we.”

Woodward’s book ‘War’ was published on Tuesday.

In excerpts published last week, an unnamed aide is quoted as saying that the former president and current Republican candidate spoke to Putin at the same time he was calling on Republicans to block further aid to Ukraine in its war with Moscow .

It also revealed that Trump sent Covid-19 testing equipment to Putin during his time in office in the early days of the pandemic.

The Trump campaign quickly denied all claims.

But the Kremlin has since confirmed that Trump did send tests.

Trump claims the US would benefit from his relationship with Putin, allowing the two countries to reduce tension.

Trump was asked about Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait’s 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 he would end the war in Ukraine on day one.

On Monday night, during an abbreviated town hall meeting in Pennsylvania, he went even further, suggesting he would take action before he was 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. Don’t know anything about it,” he said.

“And this is a war that has to end, and we’re going to make sure it ends.

“I’m going to try, and I think I can end it as president-elect, in other words, before I even take over the White House.”

The idea has alarmed Ukraine’s government, which fears Trump will choke off the supply of weapons and insist it strike a deal with Russia that could see it cede territory.

The books detail a series of other allegations about foreign policy under Trump and President Joe Biden.