Trump says it would be a 'smart thing' if he spoke to Putin, though he won't confirm he has

CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday refused to say whether he's spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office, as reported in journalist Bob Woodward's latest book. But if the two did speak, Trump said, it would be “a smart thing” for the United States.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, was pressed on his communication with the Russian president during a wide-ranging — and sometimes contentious — interview with Bloomberg editor-in-chief John Micklethwait at the Economic Club of Chicago. Woodward reports in his book “War” that Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Putin since leaving the White House and secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic.

A Trump campaign spokesperson previously denied the report. During Tuesday's interview, Micklethwait posed the question to Trump directly: "Can you say yes or no whether you have talked to Vladimir Putin since you stopped being president?

“I don’t comment on that,” Trump responded. “But I will tell you that if I did, it’s a smart thing. If I’m friendly with people, if I can have a relationship with people, that’s a good thing and not a bad thing in terms of a country.”