A new book by journalist Bob Woodward is offering new details about interactions between world leaders, including what President Joe Biden thinks of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former President Donald Trump’s continued relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The book, “War,” is set to release on Oct. 15, but CNN received an advanced copy of the behind-the-scenes novel from Woodward. In it, Woodward describes a vulgar assessment of Netanyahu from Biden.
“That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad fucking guy!” Biden said in spring 2024, as Israel’s war in Gaza intensified, Woodward wrote, citing one of the president’s aides.
But that wasn’t the only private conversation from Biden about another world leader detailed in Woodward’s book, as he also reports on a rant Biden had about Putin shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“That fucking Putin,” Biden said to advisers in the Oval Office, according to Woodward. “Putin is evil. We are dealing with the epitome of evil.”
The book offers a new, never-before-seen side of the president, who often seems to remain calm in public, even when discussing hot topics like the war between Israel and Hamas, and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
However, Biden and his sometimes hot temper behind the scenes isn’t the only presidential revelation discussed in the book, as Woodward also writes about Donald Trump’s relationship with Putin. He noted that since Trump left office in 2021, the two have had “maybe as many as seven” calls, according to a Trump aide.
Woodward also writes that during the height of the pandemic, Trump sent a secret shipment of COVID-19 testing equipment to Putin for his personal use. In the book, the journalist wrote that Putin asked Trump to keep the shipment a secret, to which Trump said he would.
However, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung refuted the stories, saying Trump gave the journalist “no access” for the book.
“None of these made-up stories by Bob Woodward are true,” he said.
To complete his forthcoming book, Woodward said he used hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand participants to explore the political and personal wars that Biden has fought throughout his presidency.
Several other topics are touched on in the book, influencing the withdrawal from Afghanistan and confrontations Biden had with Putin before he invaded Ukraine.