Just weeks ahead of an election, Americans are once again being confronted with a familiar if vexing question that has never been definitively resolved: What is up with former President Donald J. Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia?
Eight years almost to the day after American intelligence agencies publicly warned voters that Russia was trying to interfere in the 2016 campaign, a new attention-grabbing book on Tuesday revived the mystery of the relationship between the two by reporting that they secretly have been in touch over the last few years.
The book by the journalist Bob Woodward cited an unnamed aide saying that the former president and current Republican nominee had spoken with Mr. Putin as many as seven times since leaving office in 2021, even as Mr. Trump was pressuring Republicans to block military aid to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders. The book also said that Mr. Trump, while still in office in 2020, sent Covid-19 testing equipment to Mr. Putin early in the pandemic for his personal use.
While other journalists were not able to confirm the post-White House contacts on Tuesday, the report roiled the presidential campaign and set Washington buzzing. 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.
Mr. Trump has long courted and embraced Mr. Putin, even praising him as a “genius” when he ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Mr. Trump has refused to say that Ukraine should win the war, resisted more U.S. arms for Ukraine to defend itself and publicly said that he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to NATO allies that do not spend enough on their own militaries.
As recently as a week ago, Mr. Trump boasted that he has “a very good relationship” with Mr. Putin, one that would enable him if he wins to negotiate a peace deal within 24 hours, even before his inauguration — on terms that, as described by his running mate, would be favorable to the Kremlin. Mr. Trump has mentioned the Russian leader by name during 41 campaign rallies this year, far more often than in any year since he first became a presidential candidate in 2015, according to a database search.
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