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

In this file photo, former U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

CHICAGO — Former U.S. 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."

Trump said that Putin, who invaded neighboring Ukraine and who has been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, is well respected in Russia and touted his relationship with him, as well as the authoritarian leaders of North Korea and China.

"Look, I had a very good relationship with President Xi and a very good relationship with Putin, and a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un," he said. Of Putin, he later added, "Russia has never had a president that they respect so much."

Woodward reported that Trump asked an aide to leave his office at his Florida resort, Mar-a-Lago, so that the former president could have a private call with Putin in early 2024. The aide, whom Woodward doesn't name, said there have been multiple calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left office, perhaps as many as seven, according to the book, though it does not detail what they discussed.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung called the reporting false. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the reporting about the calls was "not true."

Trump's relationship with Putin has been scrutinized since his 2016 campaign for president, when he memorably called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent. Trump publicly sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence officials on whether Russia had interfered in the 2016 election to help him, and Trump has criticized U.S. aid to Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russia's attack.

Later in Tuesday's interview, Trump refused to say whether he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the November election. He also claimed there was a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election, despite his supporters' violent attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

"Come on. You had a peaceful transfer of power compared to Venezuela," Micklethwait responded.

Peoples reported from New York.