In the terrifying early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans desperately searched for tests.
Hospitals struggled with shortages.
State governments competed for medical supplies.
Families waited days to learn whether they had been infected.
COVID testing equipment had become one of the most valuable medical resources in the world.
And according to a bombshell report published on October 8, 2024, President Donald Trump secretly sent some of that coveted American testing equipment to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The revelation came from veteran journalist Bob Woodward's book War.
Woodward reported that Trump provided Putin with Abbott point-of-care COVID testing equipment for the Russian leader's personal use during the pandemic.
Even more extraordinary was what Woodward said happened next.
According to Woodward, Putin didn't want Americans to know.
He reportedly warned Trump that if the arrangement became public, Americans wouldn't be angry with Putin.
They would be angry with Trump.
Putin Reportedly Asked Trump to Keep It Secret
Woodward reported that Putin was deeply concerned about contracting COVID-19 and accepted the testing equipment Trump provided.
But Putin reportedly recognized the political danger for the American president.
According to Woodward's account, Putin told Trump:
“Please don't tell anybody you sent these to me.”
Trump reportedly responded that he didn't care.
Putin then explained why he believed Trump should care.
“People will get mad at you, not me.”
According to Woodward, Trump ultimately agreed not to disclose the arrangement.
The exchange presented an extraordinary image:
At a moment when Americans were struggling to obtain COVID tests, the Russian president reportedly understood that secretly receiving scarce testing equipment from the president of the United States could be politically damaging to Trump.
And according to Woodward, Putin specifically warned him about it.
Americans Were Desperate for Tests
The timing matters.
COVID testing during the early stages of the pandemic was nowhere near as accessible as it later became.
Testing capacity was severely constrained.
Communities struggled to determine how widely the virus was spreading.
People experiencing symptoms sometimes had difficulty getting tested.
Medical professionals, government officials and businesses were desperate for rapid and reliable testing.
Woodward described the Abbott testing equipment as particularly valuable.
These weren't the inexpensive home test kits that would eventually become commonplace.
They were point-of-care testing devices capable of producing results rapidly.
In 2020, that capability was enormously valuable.
Trump's own administration repeatedly emphasized the importance of expanding access to rapid testing.
Yet according to Woodward, some of the scarce equipment was quietly sent to Vladimir Putin.
Trump's Campaign Denies Woodward's Reporting
Trump's campaign responded aggressively.
Campaign communications director Steven Cheung said Woodward's stories were fabricated and attacked both the author and the book.
The campaign broadly denied Woodward's reporting.
That initially left the public with competing accounts.
Woodward said Trump had secretly sent COVID testing equipment to Putin.
Trump's campaign said Woodward's stories weren't true.
Then the Kremlin responded.
The Kremlin Confirms Tests Were Sent
Two days after the initial October 8 reporting, the Russian government confirmed a central part of the story.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov acknowledged that COVID testing devices had been sent from the United States to Russia during the pandemic.
Peskov attempted to place the shipment in the broader context of countries exchanging medical equipment during the global emergency.
Russia, he noted, had also provided medical equipment to the United States.
But when asked whether testing devices had come from America, the answer was yes.
The Kremlin therefore confirmed that COVID testing equipment had indeed been sent to Russia during Trump's presidency.
Peskov did not confirm every detail of Woodward's account, including the reported private conversation in which Putin allegedly asked Trump to keep the shipment quiet.
But the existence of the shipment itself was no longer merely Woodward's allegation.
Russia acknowledged it.
Russia Had Also Sent Medical Equipment to America
There is important context.
The United States and Russia exchanged medical assistance during the early stages of the pandemic.
Russia sent ventilators and other medical equipment to the United States.
The Trump administration also provided medical assistance to Russia.
Peskov characterized the COVID testing shipment as part of those international exchanges during a period when governments around the world faced severe shortages.
That broader exchange wasn't itself secret.
What made Woodward's account notable was his claim that Trump personally provided scarce Abbott testing equipment for Putin's use—and that Putin asked Trump not to disclose it because of the political consequences Trump could face at home.
Those details came from Woodward's reporting.
The Kremlin confirmed the shipment, not every element of Woodward's description of it.
Woodward Reported Something Else
The COVID testing revelation wasn't the only explosive claim involving Trump and Putin in War.
Woodward also reported that Trump may have remained in private contact with Putin after leaving the White House.
According to the book, an unnamed Trump aide indicated that Trump and Putin may have spoken by telephone as many as seven times after Trump left office in January 2021.
Woodward described one alleged incident in early 2024 in which Trump reportedly asked an aide to leave his office at Mar-a-Lago so he could speak privately with Putin.
That claim was disputed.
Trump's campaign denied Woodward's reporting.
And unlike the COVID testing shipment, the Kremlin specifically denied that the post-presidency telephone calls occurred.
Peskov said the reported calls were not true.
That distinction is important.
The Kremlin acknowledged receiving COVID testing equipment from the United States during Trump's presidency.
The Kremlin denied Woodward's separate claim about Trump and Putin speaking repeatedly after Trump left office.
The Story Reopened Questions About Trump and Putin
Trump's relationship with Putin had already been the subject of intense scrutiny throughout his presidency.
Trump repeatedly spoke positively about the Russian leader.
He met privately with Putin.
At their 2018 Helsinki summit, Trump publicly questioned the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies concerning Russian interference in the 2016 election while standing beside the Russian president.
Trump also repeatedly argued that maintaining a good relationship with Russia was beneficial to the United States.
His critics saw something very different, arguing that Trump was unusually deferential toward Putin.
The COVID testing revelation immediately became part of that long-running political argument.
But the central factual question surrounding the shipment became clearer after the Kremlin responded:
Did Trump send COVID testing equipment to Russia?
Russia itself said yes.
An Extraordinary Detail From the Pandemic
By October 2024, the chaotic early months of COVID could already feel distant.
Americans had lived through vaccines, boosters, home testing kits and several years of pandemic aftermath.
But in early 2020, a COVID test wasn't something sitting in a bathroom cabinet.
Testing was scarce.
Governors pleaded for supplies.
Hospitals rationed resources.
Americans waited anxiously for answers.
The country was scrambling to understand a virus that would eventually kill more than a million Americans.
Against that backdrop, Woodward's revelation was striking.
According to his reporting, Trump had quietly provided valuable testing equipment to Vladimir Putin for the Russian president's personal use.
Putin reportedly understood exactly how that might look back in America.
So he allegedly gave Trump some political advice:
Don't tell anybody.
Trump's campaign disputed Woodward's reporting.
But within days, an unexpected source confirmed the most fundamental part of the story.
The Kremlin itself acknowledged that the tests had been sent.