My immediate reaction to the delay was that the news wasn't really that big a deal. If Mr. Silver is right that reporting earlier wouldn't have mattered, how can it matter now? Is it only of electoral importance? Was there never a time when knowing that the President was "downplaying" the pandemic would have saved lives?

I accept the possibility that Trump was lying to Woodward about how bad the bug was, so IMMEDIATE publication would have been too hasty. But by April, when Trump and the governors were wrestling with shut-downs, the info Woodward had acquired was probably important to disclose.

The "I promised not to tell yet" argument makes sense, but in the article linked by Mr. Silver, Woodward expressly denies that there was such an agreement, so it's not clear why Mr. Silver is raising it.