‘That son of a bitch’: New Woodward book reveals candid behind-the-scenes conversations of Biden, Trump, Harris and Putin

Editor’s Note: The story below contains explicit language

In his new book, legendary journalist Bob Woodward offers a remarkable look behind the scenes at President Joe Biden’s blunt, profanity-laced assessments and interactions with the world leaders who have shaped his presidency, from Benjamin Netanyahu to Vladimir Putin.

“That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad fucking guy!” Biden declared privately about the Israeli prime minister to one of his associates in the spring of 2024 as Israel’s war in Gaza intensified, Woodward writes.

“That fucking Putin,” Biden said to advisers in the Oval Office not long after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to Woodward. “Putin is evil. We are dealing with the epitome of evil.”

The book, “War,” also reveals new details about Donald Trump’s private conversations with Putin – and a secret shipment of Covid-19 testing equipment Trump sent to the Russian president for his personal use during the height of the pandemic.

Woodward’s new book, which was obtained by CNN ahead of its October 15 release, gives an unvarnished, in-the-room account of key moments as Biden and his national security team navigate international crises, from the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal to confronting Putin before he invaded Ukraine to private battles with Netanyahu.

Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand participants, “War” is filled with newly reported details of high-stakes showdowns. The book explores the political and personal wars that Biden has fought during his presidency, including details about his decision to step aside from the 2024 campaign and conversations about his son Hunter Biden’s legal troubles.

Among the new details in “War”:

– Woodward writes that Biden’s national security team at one point believed there was a real threat, a 50% chance, that Putin would use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

– Biden said he “should never have picked” Attorney General Merrick Garland during a conversation over his son’s legal troubles.

– Biden criticized former President Barack Obama’s handling of Putin’s invasion of Crimea in 2014, concluding that “Barack never took Putin seriously.”

– Citing a Trump aide, Woodward reports that there have been “maybe as many as seven” calls between Trump and Putin since Trump left the White House in 2021.

Woodward reports that in the lead-up to Russia’s invasion, the US had obtained a treasure trove of intelligence, which showed “conclusively” in October 2021 that Putin had plans to invade Ukraine with 175,000 troops.

“It was an astonishing intelligence coup from the crown jewels of US intelligence, including a human source inside the Kremlin,” Woodward reports. Human sources are among the most sensitive in the intelligence world.

“It was as if they had secretly entered the enemy commander’s tent and were hunched over the maps, examining the number and movement of brigades and the entire planned sequence on the multifront invasion,” Woodward writes.

While Biden and his advisers agreed the plan was “dead serious,” it was still hard for them — and their allies — to believe it.

“This is what Putin plans to do,” CIA Director Bill Burns said to Biden, according to Woodward.

“This would be so crazy,” Biden responded.

“Jesus Christ!” Biden said. “Now I’ve got to deal with Russia swallowing Ukraine?”

Biden confronted Putin with the intelligence twice in December 2021, first in a video conference and then in what Woodward describes as a “hot 50-minute call” that became so heated that at one point that Putin “raised the risk of nuclear war in a threatening way.”

Biden responded by reminding Putin that “it’s impossible to win” a nuclear war.

Despite repeated warnings, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the idea that Putin would actually invade, even after Vice President Kamala Harris told him during a February 2022 meeting at the Munich Security Conference that an invasion was imminent.

Harris told Zelensky he needed to “start thinking about things like having a succession plan in place to run the country if you are captured or killed or cannot govern.”  After the meeting, Woodward writes, Harris said she was worried it might be the last time they ever saw him.

One of the most dramatic scenes in “War” reveals just how alarmed Biden and his national security team became over the prospect of Putin using nuclear weapons.

By September 2022, US intelligence reports deemed “exquisite” revealed a “deeply unnerving assessment” of Putin — that he was so desperate about battlefield losses that he might use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Based on the alarming new intelligence reports, the White House believed there was a 50% chance Russia would use a tactical nuclear weapon — a striking assessment that had skyrocketed up from 5% and then 10%, Woodward reports.

“On all channels, get on the line with the Russians,” Biden instructed his national security adviser, Jake Sullivan. “Tell them what we will do in response,” he said, according to Woodward.

The book recounts a tense phone call between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Russian counterpart in October 2022.

“If you did this, all the restraints that we have been operating under in Ukraine would be reconsidered,” Austin said to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, according to Woodward. “This would isolate Russia on the world stage to a degree you Russians cannot fully appreciate.”

“I don’t take kindly to being threatened,” Shoigu responded.

“Mr. Minister,” Austin said, according to Woodward, “I am the leader of the most powerful military in the history of the world. I don’t make threats.”

Two days later, the Russians requested another call. This time, the Russian defense minister dramatically claimed the Ukrainians were planning to use a “dirty bomb” — a false story the US believed the Kremlin was pushing as a pretext to deploy a nuclear weapon.

“We don’t believe you,” Austin said firmly in response, according to Woodward. “We don’t see any indications of this, and the world will see through this.”

“Don’t do it,” he said to Shoigu.

“I understand,” Shoigu replied.

“It was probably the most hair-raising moment of the whole war,” Colin Kahl, a senior Pentagon official, later said of the episode.

The book also contains new details about Trump’s relationship with the Russian president. In 2020, Woodward writes, Trump had “secretly sent Putin a bunch of Abbott Point of Care Covid test machines for his personal use.”

During the height of the pandemic, Russia and the United States did exchange medical equipment such as ventilators. But Putin — who infamously isolated himself over fears of Covid — told Trump on a phone call to keep the delivery of the Abbott machines quiet, Woodward reports.

“Please don’t tell anybody you sent these to me,” Putin said to Trump, according to Woodward.

“I don’t care,” Trump replied. “Fine.”

“No, no,” Putin said. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me. They don’t care about me.”

Woodward writes that Trump has stayed in touch with Putin after leaving office.

In one scene, Woodward recounts a moment at Mar-a-Lago where Trump tells a senior aide to leave the room so “he could have what he said was a private phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

“According to Trump’s aide, there have been multiple phone calls between Trump and Putin, maybe as many as seven in the period since Trump left the White House in 2021,” Woodward writes.

Woodward asked Trump aide Jason Miller whether Trump and Putin had spoken since he left the White House. “Um, ah, not that, ah, not that I’m aware of,” Miller told Woodward.

“I have not heard that they’re talking, so I’d push back on that,” Miller added.

Woodward writes that Biden’s Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines “carefully hedged” when asked about whether there were any post-presidency Trump-Putin calls.

“I would not purport to be aware of all contacts with Putin. I wouldn’t purport to speak to what President Trump may or may not have done,” Haines said, according to Woodward.

Woodward also writes about Trump’s decision to run for president again, including a series of conversations with his ally and golfing buddy, Sen. Lindsey Graham.

“Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea,” Graham said. “Everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in.”

The South Carolina Republican is quoted as saying Biden “won fair and square” but that Trump “doesn’t like to hear that.” Woodward goes on to describe Graham’s attempts to give Trump campaign advice for 2024.

“You’ve got a problem with moderate women,” Graham told Trump after the midterms. “The people that think that the earth is flat and we didn’t go to the moon, you’ve got them. Let that go.”

Graham repeatedly urged Trump to move on from the 2020 election, telling him if he is reelected, “then January 6 won’t be your obituary.”

“I gave a speech today and I only mentioned the 2020 election twice!” Trump said to Graham a few days later, “as if it had shown maximum restraint,” Woodward writes.

As Trump framed his presidential campaign around fear, Woodward writes that Graham said of the former president: “Trump is becoming more erratic. These court cases. I think they would rattle anybody.”

In the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, Woodward describes the roller-coaster relationship between Biden and Netanyahu. While Biden supported Israel publicly, he fought with Netanyahu behind the scenes over how Israel was conducting the war in Gaza.

“What’s your strategy, man?” Biden asked Netanyahu during an April phone call, Woodward reports.

“We have to go into Rafah,” Netanyahu said.

“Bibi, you’ve got no strategy.” Biden responded.

That same month, Israel launched a strike in Syria that killed a top general in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, prompting Iran to launch more than 100 ballistic missiles in response, the first time that Iran had fired missiles from its territory directly at Israel.

The US, along with Saudi Arabia, Jordan and other US allies, came to Israel’s defense. While nearly all of the Iranian missiles were intercepted, Netanyahu wanted to retaliate.

Biden told Netanyahu on a call to “take the win,” though the Israeli prime minister pushed back. “You don’t need to make another move. Do nothing,” Biden said.

In the end, Israel launched a limited, calibrated strike against Iran, which Biden considered a win.

“I know he’s going to do something but the way I limit it is tell him to ‘Do nothing,’” Biden told his advisers, according to Woodward.

But Biden’s frustration with Netanyahu boiled over as the war continued to escalate.

“He’s a fucking liar,” Biden said privately of Netanyahu, after Israel went into Rafah, Woodward writes.

“Bibi, what the fuck?” Biden yelled at Netanyahu in July after an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hezbollah military commander and three civilians in Beirut, according to Woodward.

“You know the perception of Israel around the world increasingly is that you’re a rogue state, a rogue actor,” Biden said to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu responded that the target was “one of the leading terrorists.”

“We saw an opportunity and took it,” Netanyahu said. “The harder you hit, the more successful you’re going to be in the negotiation.”

Woodward’s book also contains notable details about Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who had been discussing the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel before the October 7 attack.

In the aftermath of the attack, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken conducted a whirlwind trip through the Middle East, trying to negotiate humanitarian assistance for Gaza. By the time Blinken arrived in Saudi Arabia to meet MBS, he was exhausted.

But the crown prince, a night owl, kept Blinken and his team up all night before finally meeting. Woodward quotes Blinken saying, “MBS was nothing more than a spoiled child.”

In a later conversation, Blinken asked the Saudi crown prince about his demand for a path to a Palestinian state before Saudi Arabia would normalize relations with Israel.

“Do I want it?” MBS said and tapped his heart, Woodard writes. “It doesn’t matter that much. Do I need it? Absolutely.”

Woodward also recounts a meeting that Graham, the South Carolina senator, had with the crown prince in March.

“Hey, let’s call Trump,” Graham said to MBS while visiting with the Saudi leader in March.

What happened next offers a fascinating window into how the Saudi leader operates and communicates with various world leaders and government officials. Woodward writes that bin Salman had an aide bring over a bag with about 50 burner phones, pulling out one labeled “TRUMP 45.”

Among the others in the bag, Woodward writes, was a burner labeled “JAKE SULLIVAN.”

‘Should never have picked Garland’

The book also documents Biden’s personal and political struggles, including what Biden calls Trump in private, a surprising phone call from former President George W. Bush, Biden’s frustration with Obama and regrets about his selection of his attorney general Merrick Garland.

While Biden rarely invokes Trump’s name publicly, referring to him as “my predecessor” or “the former guy,” in private, Biden calls him “that fucking asshole,” Woodward writes.

After the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden received a commiserating phone call from another member of the president’s club.

“Oh boy, I can understand what you’re going through,” Bush said to Biden. “I got fucked by my intel people, too,” Woodward writes.

Ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden complained that Obama didn’t do enough to stop Putin in 2014, when the Russian leader invaded Crimea.

“They fucked up in 2014,” Biden said to a friend, according to Woodward. “That’s why we are here. We fucked it up. Barack never took Putin seriously.”

Biden added, “We did nothing. We gave Putin a license to continue!” Biden was angry: “Well, I’m revoking his fucking license!”

Biden has remained hands off with the Justice Department. But privately, Woodward reveals the president’s anger at the prosecution of his son, especially toward his attorney general.

“Should never have picked Garland,” Biden once told an associate, Woodward reports. “This is never going to fucking go away,” Biden complained.

Woodward also describes a scene between father and son at the White House in the spring of 2022. The president was having dinner with a friend, when Hunter Biden came in, sat down and began talking about why he was the person with the most to lose from the midterm elections.

“Hunter rambled on about his personal crisis,” Woodward writes. “President Biden leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and sighed.”

By the summer of 2024, questions about Biden’s ability to stay in the race consumed the White House and the Democratic Party after his disastrous debate performance. Over the next several weeks, Biden dug in, and insisted he would not drop out.

Woodward writes that Blinken — who is known for his loyalty and close relationship to Biden — addressed the sensitive issue during a private lunch on July 4.

“I don’t want to see your legacy jeopardized. Anyone who is written about gets one sentence. That’s the legacy,” Blinken said. “If this decision leads you to staying in and winning reelection, great. If it leads to you staying in and losing reelection, that’s the sentence.”

Blinken then asked Biden: “Can you see yourself doing it for another four years? You’ve got to answer that question.”

Biden, Harris and the ‘f-bomb’

When Biden dropped out on July 21, he immediately endorsed Harris, allowing her to consolidate Democratic support and avoid messy party infighting.

He also remembered what it was like not to get the president’s endorsement.

“I think it probably harkens back to the way Biden felt he didn’t get that from President Obama back in 2016,” Blinken said, according to Woodward. “He was disappointed. He felt that, you know, as his vice president that’s the normal and natural order.”

“War” offers a glimpse into Harris’ private dealings with Biden as his vice president. Woodward writes that at one point she was concerned about Biden’s isolation and called one of his closest associates.

“I’m calling to ask you — to really beg you, actually — could you please talk to the president more than you talk to him?” Harris said to Biden’s friend. “Your president really loves you. You should talk to him more often than you do.”

Woodward writes: “The Biden associate was candid with the vice president. Look, one of the biggest reasons that Biden calls me, the associate said, is I provide him a level of comfort to the point where he can swear freely about ‘what a fucking asshole Joe Manchin is.’”

The vice president laughed. “That might be the only reason that he still really is comfortable with me to a point,” Harris said, according to Woodward, “because he knows that I’m the only person around who knows how to properly pronounce the word motherfucker.”