Trump sent scarce COVID-19 tests to Putin for his own personal use

[Wirey]

I wonder if there's anyway to verify this story. One of Trump's problems is that he lies and exaggerates so much, that his opponents can, in turn, lie about him and people will believe the lie about Trump because it will ring true given Trump's own propensity to lie and exaggerate.

To be fair, if you continually roll around in dog crap, and then someone says you smell like dog crap, you probably shouldn't complain by saying "But this time, I put on deodourant!"

It isn't really necessary to lie about what Trump says. The truth is bad enough.

 

[It Aint Necessarily So]

The bigger question I have is if Trump was sending putin Covid tests as a favor, did he also send intel that he took when he left the White House. It's a whole other issue, but given Trump's willingness to gain favor from putin who knows how far he would go.

Who knows how far he would go? I'll bet you do. I do.

Trump, though pathological, is simple for that reason combined with being foolish and low information. His motivations are few, his values are well known and though corrupt, are few in number, and his agenda is one word: "Me!!!"

One of Trump's problems is that he lies and exaggerates so much, that his opponents can, in turn, lie about him and people will believe the lie about Trump because it will ring true given Trump's own propensity to lie and exaggerate.

There is no need to lie about Trump.

And his problem here isn't that he lies. His likely lies here are his response to the allegations.

His problem is that he is known to be disloyal to America but loyal to Putin, which makes the story very believable. Even if we can't be certain whether he did do that, it is understood by many that if he could do such a thing and had an incentive to do so that he would.

If Woodward's source was lying, then you're correct that Trump's reputation for lying combined with his other known bad habits make the lies seem very possible in the eyes of critical thinkers with a developed conscience, which wouldn't be the case if the lie were told about Obama or Biden, where it would be rejected by morally upright critical thinkers.

It would be just the reverse with MAGA, who would reject the claim about Trump because it's about Trump and accept the claims against Democratic presidents because they were Democrats.

Anecdote: I used to be a hospice medical director, which included weekly meeting with other hospice team members to discuss who had been admitted, who had died or been discharges, and weekly progress between those two times. For several weeks, we heard about a patient who was constantly complaining about the staff stealing from him, disrespecting him, and physically abusing him. He was obviously delusional at best and lying at worst, since he was implicating several people (nurse, aid, social worker, chaplain) about whom we never heard similar complaints from other patients.

The problem for this man as your comment suggests is Trump's problem was that he made it easy to do those things to him with impunity.

So you are spreading an account from an unpublished book that isn't available for checking and written by a Trump hater that is known to use unverifiable "unnamed sources".

Yes.

Woodward likely has contempt for Trump - I wouldn't be interested in his opinions if I thought he didn't given how much he knows about Trump - but he is also a well-respected giant in political journalism who is intelligent, ethical, and exhibits humanist values. I can't vouch for his source, but Woodward is credible.

And though the allegation is likely accurate (I believe I heard that Putin confirmed it, but why would he except to troll Trump?), isn't it just a little hypocritical to question Trumps detractors' honesty when you defend obvious liars?

And frankly, I wouldn't mind if this were all made up. If I discovered that to be the case, I'd be surprised, but would only object to trying because there was no need and getting caught would be very costly, as that would affect every future story about Trump's bad behavior at the hands of MAGA.

Why is that? Why would I not mind attempts at doing that to Trump where I would strenuously object to such treatment of most other people? Because I have different standards for enemies than for other kinds of people, and Trump is an enemy of America as surely as his "buddy" Putin is (I'm sure Putin despises Trump and is contemptuous of him but has found a useful idiot in Trump).

It's also America's double standard. Just consider that if Trump were a foreigner harming America to the degree that he has and continues daily, he would have met the fate of Hussein and bin Laden.

It's same double standard that distinguishes how police are to treat fellow citizens and how soldiers treat opposing soldiers - one with forbearance, the other with the intention to neutralize without regard for the welfare of the enemy.

They got nothing else to spread

I guess you haven't been listening to actual news. Just this past month, besides this Woodward revelation, Trump's given the media plenty to work with. He meddled during hurricane when his presence was unwanted, he lied about the disaster relief, he's lied about crowd sizes and about people leaving early, he had an abysmal debate performance and lied afterward about a nonexistent crowd there loving him, Jack Smith has filed a superseding indictment outlining what has been called new and damning evidence of Trump's crimes, he avoided rematches with Harris (a second debate, the 60 Minutes interview) and mainstream media such as the NYT are finally beginning to address Trump's cognitive decline.

All of this generated new bad press for Trump.

 

[Watchmen]

To be fair, if you continually roll around in dog crap, and then someone says you smell like dog crap, you probably shouldn't complain by saying "But this time, I put on deodourant!"

It isn't really necessary to lie about what Trump says. The truth is bad enough.

And none of that changes my point.

 

[Wirey]

And none of that changes my point.

True. I was merely pointing out that your point lacked merit. Trump lies. Why lie about his lies?

 

[Kathryn]

I wonder if Putin got expired tests. I have a whole drawer full of expired tests, which were expired when I got them. Oh, well, I guess they still work.

 

[F1fan]

Who knows how far he would go? I'll bet you do. I do.

Trump, though pathological, is simple for that reason combined with being foolish and low information. His motivations are few, his values are well known and though corrupt, are few in number, and his agenda is one word: "Me!!!"

I'd say it's a safe bet that Trump sees the whole of the USA in the same way he sees Jack Smith, the DOJ, the legal system anywhere that has charges against him, and he will do anything that will be payback, in is twisted viewpoint. I could easily believe a scenario where Trump gives away security details in exchange for putin's help in the election, and the justification would be that putin wouldn't harm an ally once Trump is president. That is how his "transactional" thinking works. And his supporters ignore this and agree with the flawed thinking.

There is no need to lie about Trump.

And his problem here isn't that he lies. His likely lies here are his response to the allegations.

His problem is that he is known to be disloyal to America but loyal to Putin, which makes the story very believable. Even if we can't be certain whether he did do that, it is understood by many that if he could do such a thing and had an incentive to do so that he would.

Let's not forget how Trump believed putin when he claimed no election interferance in 2016, which was in opposition to what the US intelligence agencies reported to him. To my mind that was inexcusable and surely a point where the US intelligence agencies had reason to treat Trump as a Russian asset.

This could explain why more and more MAGAs are moving towards being hostile towards Ukraine and supportive of Russia. There's no other reason for this change of attitude except that Trump is aligned with putin. If an investigation reveals that Trump gave up sensitive materials to Russia the MAGAs can easily claim that the USA is an ally with Russia. That leap seems to be getting established.

 

[Watchmen]

True. I was merely pointing out that your point lacked merit. Trump lies. Why lie about his lies?

Your question proves my point. While there’s no need to lie about Trump, it remains possible that people will do so, thereby harming their own position. I’m just saying let’s wait and see what the book actually says and whether it’s supported by credible evidence.

 

[Revoltingest]

Your question proves my point. While there’s no need to lie about Trump, it remains possible that people will do so, thereby harming their own position.

This seems to be a lame attempt to discredit all
criticism of Trump, ie, that it could be a lie.

Is the same true of Harris, ie, that Maga criticism
of her could all be lies, & therefore dismissed?

 

[fantome profane]

I wonder if Putin got expired tests. I have a whole drawer full of expired tests, which were expired when I got them. Oh, well, I guess they still work.

You might have a whole drawer full of expired tests now. It is 2024. But this event happened in 2020. I know you didn't have a drawer full of covid tests then. Back then these tests were extremely rare, and people were desperate to get their hands on some.

But Trump made sure his buddy Putin got them first. That should be is campaign slogan. "Putin First"

 

[Kathryn]

You might have a whole drawer full of expired tests now. It is 2024. But this event happened in 2020. I know you didn't have a drawer full of covid tests then. Back then these tests were extremely rare, and people were desperate to get their hands on some.

But Trump made sure his buddy Putin got them first. That should be is campaign slogan. "Putin First"

Do you know when Trump sent Putin the tests? Because I got tests, boatloads of them, and they were already expired, in 2021.

 

[Revoltingest]

Do you know when Trump sent Putin the tests?

It was in 2020.

Because I got tests, boatloads of them, and they were already expired, in 2021.

What is your purpose in repeatedly questioning
whether Putin's Covid tests were expired?

 

[fantome profane]

Do you know when Trump sent Putin the tests? Because I got tests, boatloads of them, and they were already expired, in 2021.

So you go them in 2021, when Biden was President, and probably not shipping them off to Putin (or at least not until his own people had a sufficient supply.)

 

[Kathryn]

So you go them in 2021, when Biden was President, and probably not shipping them off to Putin (or at least not until his own people had a sufficient supply.)

Yes, I got expired tests in 2021.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Who cares?

Exactly. I'd be more concerned if he were shipping him toilet paper in 2020, honestly. Lol.

 

[Kathryn]

It was in 2020.

What is your purpose in repeatedly questioning
whether Putin's Covid tests were expired?

I asked it one time, which no one answered.

 

[Revoltingest]

I asked it one time....

I included your wondering.

....which no one answered.

The OP said it was in 2020.

 

[Kathryn]

I included your wondering.

The OP said it was in 2020.

Well, alrighty though I wasn't wondering at all. In fact, to be completely honest, I had forgotten that I asked the question! Which may explain why I didn't realize anyone had answered it.

 

[Revoltingest]

Well, alrighty though I wasn't wondering at all.

"I wonder if Putin got expired tests. "

 

[Pogo]

Your question proves my point. While there’s no need to lie about Trump, it remains possible that people will do so, thereby harming their own position. I’m just saying let’s wait and see what the book actually says and whether it’s supported by credible evidence.

Are you going to actually buy and read it or only reserve judgement because you didn't get a pre-release copy? Just what more do you think will come out beyond the Kremlin confirming it? Are you waiting for the person who put them in the diplomatic pouch to come out?

 

[Regiomontanus]

Bob Woodward's new book, "War," being published next week, reveals that in the darkest hour in 2020, when there was no vaccine and most people in the world (including the U.S.) could not obtain covid tests, Donald Trump sent priceless tests to Vladimir Putin for personal use. And both Putin and Trump took pains to prevent fallout. Putin cautioned Trump not to reveal that he dispatched the scarce equipment to Moscow, “I didn't want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. I don't want you to tell anybody.” And Trump, of course, didn't.

I am no fan of Putin or Trump, but I think the latter did a good thing. We have major differences, but I think this was a nice thing to do.