Was Bob Woodward Wrong to Withhold Trump’s Comments About the Coronavirus?

Bob Woodward became Bob Woodward thanks to his reporting on Richard Nixon’s White House. All the President’s Men chronicles Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s race to confirm stories about the Watergate scandal and get them into print as quickly as possible. Those stories, when published by the Washington Post, altered the course of American history.

In his many books since the 1990s, Woodward has taken a different journalistic approach. To get those stories, he’s made agreements with presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump, and members of their administrations, that rely on delaying publication. Presidents and administration officials have agreed to speak freely with Woodward, and Woodward has waited to publish their comments until his books get released.