Bob Woodward is basically the only person in Washington who can get a sitting president, a former president, and a foreign dictator on the phone—or at least get their closest aides to spill every secret they’ve been holding onto for years. In his latest book, War by Bob Woodward, we get a gritty, unvarnished look at the sheer chaos defining the Biden-Harris administration's handling of global meltdowns. It isn't just a dry retelling of policy. It's a fly-on-the-wall account of a world that feels like it’s teetering on the edge of a very steep cliff.
The book dropped in late 2024, and honestly, the timing couldn't have been more intense. While the news cycle moves at light speed, Woodward slows it down to show us the actual dialogue happening in the Situation Room. You’ve probably seen the snippets about Donald Trump sending COVID-19 tests to Vladimir Putin, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The meat of the book is about the high-stakes friction between Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu, and the terrifying realization that nuclear weapons aren't just a Cold War memory anymore.
Why the Biden-Netanyahu relationship turned so sour
Most people think of the U.S. and Israel as an inseparable unit, but War by Bob Woodward paints a much more fractured picture. It’s messy. Woodward describes Biden’s private frustrations with Netanyahu—whom he reportedly called a "f***ing bad guy" in private conversations—as the civilian death toll in Gaza began to climb.
It’s about trust. Or, more accurately, the total lack of it.
Biden felt like Netanyahu was lying to him about his strategic goals. Woodward details specific calls where the President's patience just snaps. It’s fascinating because it shows the divide between public diplomacy, where everything is "ironclad," and the private reality where the leaders of these two nations are basically shouting at each other. Biden's struggle was twofold: he wanted to support Israel after the horrific October 7 attacks, but he also saw Netanyahu as a political survivor who was willing to prolong the war for his own career.
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There's a specific moment Woodward recounts where the administration realizes that Netanyahu isn't actually listening to their "red line" warnings about Rafah. The frustration in the West Wing was palpable. They felt ignored. They felt played.
The 2022 nuclear scare that nobody talked about
This is the part of War by Bob Woodward that should honestly keep you up at night. Back in late 2022, the U.S. intelligence community believed there was a 50% chance that Russia would use a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine. Think about that for a second. 50-50. Those aren't odds you want when it comes to the end of civilization.
Woodward describes the "exquisite" intelligence—a word he loves to use for high-level spying—that led the Biden team to this conclusion. They saw Russian units moving, they heard the chatter, and they panicked. Not a loud, public panic, but a quiet, calculated one.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had to get on the phone with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu. Woodward writes that Austin told Shoigu, "If you do this, all the restraints that we have been operating under in Ukraine would be examined." It was a veiled threat. It worked. But the book makes it clear that we were much closer to a nuclear flashpoint than the general public ever realized at the time.
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Trump, Putin, and those COVID tests
You can't have a Bob Woodward book without some bombshells about Donald Trump. Even though Trump was out of office for most of the period covered in War, his shadow looms large. The most viral detail is that Trump supposedly sent Abbott Point of Care COVID-19 testing machines to Putin for his personal use in 2020.
Putin was reportedly terrified of the virus. He told Trump to keep it quiet because people would get mad at Trump, not him.
Woodward also touches on the "seven secret phone calls" between Trump and Putin since Trump left the White House. While the Trump campaign has denied these claims, Woodward stands by his sourcing, which usually involves multiple people with direct knowledge or access to transcripts. It raises huge questions about Logan Act violations and the weirdly personal affinity Trump seems to have for the Russian leader.
But honestly? The COVID tests are the perfect Woodward detail. It’s a small, weird, specific thing that illustrates a much larger point about personal loyalty versus national interest.
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The Harris factor: Preparing for the top job
One of the most useful parts of War by Bob Woodward is how it frames Vice President Kamala Harris. With the 2024 election being what it was, everyone wanted to know if she was actually in the room when the big calls were made. Woodward says yes.
He portrays her as a "loyal soldier" who was often the last person in the room with Biden. She wasn't just a figurehead. She was pushing for more emphasis on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while Biden was focused on the hard military strategy. It gives a bit of nuance to her image, showing her trying to navigate being a loyal VP while also carving out a distinct voice on foreign policy.
Sourcing and the "Woodward Method"
People always ask how he gets this stuff. It's the "deep background" approach. He talks to people for hundreds of hours. He gets them to feel like they are "contributing to history" rather than leaking.
- He uses verbatim quotes that sound like they came from a tape recorder.
- He knows the specific time of day and what people were eating during meetings.
- He triangulates stories between different departments (State vs. Defense).
Critics say he's too kind to his best sources. If you talk to Woodward, you usually look better in the book. If you don't, you're the villain. That’s a fair critique. In War, Biden comes across as a man trying to hold back the tide of global chaos, which is a pretty sympathetic lens.
Actionable Takeaways for the Informed Reader
Reading a 400-page book on geopolitics can feel overwhelming, but War by Bob Woodward leaves us with some very practical realities about how the world works in 2026.
- Watch the intelligence, not the rhetoric. The book proves that what leaders say at a podium is almost always a sanitized version of the terrifying data they are seeing behind closed doors. When the U.S. starts moving assets or making "warning" calls, the threat is usually much more real than "political posturing."
- Personal relationships dictate policy. The breakdown between Biden and Netanyahu wasn't just about borders; it was about two old men who didn't like or trust each other. When you're voting or following news, remember that the "human element" matters as much as the "national interest."
- Nuclear de-escalation is the new priority. We aren't in the 1990s anymore. The risk of tactical nukes is a primary driver of why the U.S. limits the long-range weapons it gives to allies. If you want to understand why the U.S. seems "slow" to act, it's usually because they are trying to prevent a mushroom cloud.
- Follow the "secondary" characters. In Woodward's world, people like Jake Sullivan and Antony Blinken are the ones actually running the gears of the world. Keep an eye on the advisors; they are the ones who stay when presidents change.
The biggest lesson from War is that peace is incredibly fragile. It’s held together by a few phone calls, some very stressed-out staffers, and a lot of luck. If you want to understand the current state of global affairs, you have to look past the tweets and the 24-hour news cycle and look at the actual transcripts of the men and women making the choices. Woodward gives you that access, even if the truth is a little bit scary.