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   Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:27:14 JST Nonilex

   #Trump Secretly Stayed in Touch w/ #Putin After Leaving Office, Book Says

   A new book by #BobWoodward also reports that Trump, while still in office, secretly sent Putin what were then rare #Covid19 tests for the Russian leader’s personal use.

   Trump has secretly spoken w/Pres Putin of #Russia as many as 7X since leaving office, as he was pressuring #Republicans to block military #aid to #Ukraine to fight Russian invaders.

   #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024 #GiftArticle
   https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/us/politics/trump-putin-woodward-book.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:45 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     These interactions between #Trump & the #authoritarian leader of a country at #war w/an American #ally form the basis of #BobWoodward’s conclusion that Trump is worse than #Nixon, whose presidency was undone by the Watergate scandal exposed a half-century ago by Woodward & …Carl Bernstein.
     
“Trump was the most reckless & impulsive president in American history & is demonstrating the very same character as a presidential candidate in 2024,” Woodward writes….

     #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:45 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     …Woodward, who has chronicled the successes & failures of US presidents for 50 yrs, concludes that #TrumpIsUnfit for office while President Joe #Biden & his team, mistakes notwithstanding, exhibited “steady & purposeful leadership.” Vice President #KamalaHarris, the Democratic presidential nominee, makes several appearances in the narrative, w/ Woodward presenting her as a shrewd & loyal No. 2 to Biden but not an influential voice in his admin’s foreign policy.

     #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:45 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     The book is Woodward’s 4th since #Trump’s upset victory in 2016. It focuses principally on the twin wars consuming #Biden’s #NationalSecurity team — #Russia’s all-out #war in #Ukraine, which began in Feb 2022, & #Israel’s campaign against #Hamas & other #Iran-backed proxies since the Hamas attacks of Oct 7, 2023.
     
The book also examines the long shadow cast by Trump over the foreign conflicts of the past 4 yrs, & over the bitter #USpol environment in which they have unfolded.

     #HarrisWalz2024

     powersoffour repeated this.
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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:45 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     …Acc/to Woodward, one of #Trump’s #NationalSecurity advisers, Keith Kellogg, secretly met w/ #Netanyahu [!!] during a trip to #Israel earlier this year. Upon his return, Kellogg publicly circulated a memo effectively blaming #Biden for the #Hamas-led attack on Israel…
At the time, Biden advisers were pushing Israel’s leaders to agree to a #ceasefire deal…to head off an invasion of #Rafah, in… #Gaza Strip.
     [outrageous a fmr president would actively undermine the US during diplomatic negotiations]

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:46 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     #BobWoodward’s book does not report what #Trump & #Putin discussed in the call in early 2024, nor does it provide details about the additional calls mentioned by the Trump aide. It quotes Jason Miller, a top campaign aide to Trump, saying that he had “not heard that they’re talking, so I’d push back on that.” But he also said that “I’m sure they’d know how to get in touch with each other” if they did want to talk.

     #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:47 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     #Trump praised #Putin as a “genius” when he initiated the full-scale invasion of #Ukraine in 2022 & since then has refused to say that he wants Ukraine to win its war against #Russia. He has criticized American #aid to Ukraine & leaned on congressional #Republicans not to approve more assistance. He has boasted that if he wins he will negotiate an end to the war w/in 24hrs & do so even before the inauguration.

     Trump has not explained how he would do so….

     #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:47 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     …last month by #Trump’s running mate, Senator #JDVance of Ohio, sounded a lot like what #Putin would want. #Vance said that #Russia could keep the Ukrainian territory it has seized by force in violation of international #law & receive a “guarantee of neutrality” from #Ukraine, which would not be allowed to join #NATO. [so give Russia everything it wants]

     #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:48 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     The disclosures raise new questions about #Trump’s relationship w/ #Putin just weeks before an #election that will determine whether the former president will reclaim the White House. A copy of the book was obtained by The NYT. The Washington Post, where #BobWoodward has worked for more than half a century, & CNN, where he often appears as a commentator, also reported on the book on Tues.

     #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024
     https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/08/bob-woodward-new-book-war-trump-putin-biden/

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:49 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     The book, titled “War” & scheduled to be published next week, describes a scene in early 2024 at Mar-a-Lago, #Trump’s estate in Florida, when the former president ordered an aide out of his office so he could conduct a phone call w/ #Putin. The unidentified aide said the 2 may have spoken a half-dozen other times as well since Trump left the White House.

     #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024

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     Nonilex (nonilex@masto.ai)'s status on Tuesday, 08-Oct-2024 23:54:49 JST Nonilex

     in reply to

     The book also reports that #Trump, while still in office early in the #Covid19 #pandemic in 2020, secretly sent #Putin what were then rare tests for the virus…. Putin, who has been described as particularly concerned about being infected at the time, urged Trump to not publicly reveal the gesture because it could damage the American president politically. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me,” Putin reportedly told him.

     #NationalSecurity #HarrisWalz2024