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00:00Donald Trump's relationship with Vladimir Putin has been scrutinized since his 2016 bid for president.
00:07The Republican leader has long embraced Putin, whose intelligence services were found to have meddled in U.S. elections.
00:14Now, a new book by veteran American journalist Bob Woodward reports further explosive details on the two men's interactions.
00:22The opus, titled War, cites an unnamed Trump aide who says the pair had spoken as many as seven times since Trump left office.
00:30The aide also recalls one instance early this year where they were ordered out of Trump's office in Mar-a-Lago so he could take a call with the Russian president.
00:39However, the book also quotes a Trump campaign official who cast doubt on the supposed contact.
00:45Former presidents often speak with foreign leaders, but it's highly unusual to talk to a leader of one of the United States' adversaries without first clearing it with the State Department.
00:55The book also alleges Trump sent Putin COVID-19 testing equipment for his personal use in 2020 when many nations were facing shortages.
01:05In a statement, the Trump campaign said these were made-up stories and called Woodward a demented and deranged man.
01:12The Kremlin, meanwhile, also denied the conversations between Trump and Putin.
01:16Woodward rose to fame after he and his colleague Carl Bernstein exposed the Watergate scandal bringing down Richard Nixon.
01:24He's written more than 20 books on American politics and current affairs, including 14 bestsellers.