In his book “The War,” scheduled to be published next week, Washington Post editor-in-chief Bob Woodward reveals secret, impromptu moments of world leaders, and developments in the political competition between US Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden, against the backdrop of successive global crises, from the Corona pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. , refers to the escalating conflict in the Middle East, and concludes that Biden, despite his mistakes, showed “steady and purposeful leadership,” while Trump showed recklessness and self-interest that make him “unfit to lead the country.”
The Washington Post – in a report written by Isaac Stanley Baker – reviewed some of the facts revealed in the book, noting that the Trump campaign issued a statement attacking the book and saying, “None of these stories invented by Bob Woodward are true.”
First, Trump sends devices to test for coronavirus infection to Putin
The newspaper said that Donald Trump, when he was President of America in 2020, sent devices to test for Coronavirus infection to Russian President Vladimir Putin at a moment when the shortage was severe in the United States and around the world.
The book explained that Putin was afraid of contracting the deadly disease at the time, and he accepted the supplies but asked Trump not to reveal them, for fear of the political repercussions they might raise against him. Putin told Trump, “Please don’t tell anyone that you sent this to me,” but Trump According to Woodward, he replied, “I don’t care, okay.”
The book indicated that Trump and Putin may have spoken 7 times since Trump left the White House in 2021, and on one occasion this year, Trump sent an unnamed assistant so that he could make a private phone call with Putin.
Second, Biden’s bouts of insults toward Putin and Netanyahu
The book “War” portrayed Biden as a cautious but quick-tempered leader when it came to stubborn foreign leaders, especially Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He described Putin as a “paragon of evil” and commented to his advisers, “Fucking Putin.”
The aforementioned book pointed out that Biden’s anger at Netanyahu reached its peak in the spring of 2024, when Biden concluded that the Israeli Prime Minister’s motive was not in fact to defeat the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), but rather to protect himself, and Biden said – according to Woodward – “Son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu.” “He’s a bad man. He’s a bad man.”
Third, the bilateral approach that Harris adopts with Netanyahu
Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate for the US presidency, made notable statements after her face-to-face meeting with Netanyahu in July, and appeared to distance herself from Biden’s approach to Israel’s war in Gaza by speaking forcefully about the costs of the military campaign and pledging “not to be silent” about… The suffering of the Palestinians.
Harris’s public tone surprised Netanyahu and angered him because, according to Woodward, she disagreed with her more friendly approach during the private conversation that took place between them. The Israeli ambassador to Washington, Michael Herzog, says, “She wanted to be tough in public, but she was not tough in private.”
Fourth, reduce the heated escalation in the face of possible Russian nuclear use
Woodward outlines some of the astonishing intelligence capabilities that allowed Washington to anticipate Russian plans for all-out war on Ukraine in early 2022, though that did not help Washington prevent the Russian nuclear option that Putin threatened in the fall of 2022.
Washington sought feverishly to distance Moscow from this option, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin categorically denied Russia’s accusations in a phone call with Kremlin Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Biden relied in particular on Chinese President Xi Jinping to stress to Putin the dire consequences of using nuclear weapons.