Table of Contents

Early life and career
United States career
Beginnings
Donald Trump's first presidency
Later efforts
Personal life
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
External links

Jonathan Swan

NameJonathan Swan
Image
CaptionSwan in 2018
Birth Date1985-8-7
Birth PlaceSydney, New South Wales, Australia
OccupationJournalist
CitizenshipAustralia ⋅ United States
EmployerThe New York Times
Children2
SpouseBetsy Woodruff
FatherNorman Swan
MotherLee Sutton



Jonathan Swan (born August 7, 1985) is an Australian-American investigative journalist at The New York Times whose 2020 interview with US president Donald Trump drew media attention and acclaim.

Raised in Sydney, Swan started out in journalism with Australian papers before emigrating to the United States. In 2016, he joined the newly founded media outlet Axios, covering Trump's first administration. Swan broke several major stories and became a rising figure in political journalism, contributing to Axios's rise to prominence. But some of his reports, such as his 2018 interview with Trump, were called out for lacking insight and critique.

Swan interviewed Trump again in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He was praised for fact-checking Trump's falsehoods and constantly challenging his remarks, which, according to journalists, exposed the president as unprepared. His stunned facial expressions made in response to Trump's statements became a viral internet meme. A year later, Axios won the Emmy Award for Best Edited Interview for Swan's work.

Early life and career

Jonathan Swan was born on August 7, 1985, the eldest child of Lee Sutton and health reporter Norman Swan. Raised in Sydney, New South Wales, he grew up in a "very liberal" Reform Jewish household enrolled in the Emanuel Synagogue.

At age 25, Swan entered into journalism, covering politics for The Sydney Morning Herald. Around this time, he was a national political reporter for Fairfax Media. Swan became known for his scoops—most notably, his revelations on parliamentarians abusing taxpayer funds and his unearthing a video of a senator hurling kangaroo feces at his brother. In 2014, as part of a fellowship with the American Political Science Association, Swan emigrated to the United States to work as a congressional aide in Washington, D.C. American politics intrigued him, and he had long aspired to venture into American journalism. After approaching several national media outlets, The Hill hired him.

United States career

Beginnings

Swan began reporting on politics at The Hill in 2015. A year later, he joined Axios shortly before the company's founding, and it is at Axios that his career "accelerated", writes journalist Paul Farhi.

Donald Trump's first presidency

As a national political correspondent, Swan covered Trump's first administration from 2017 through 2021. He was the first to reveal the US' initial withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the firing of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. Contemporary journalists regarded Swan's reporting as key to Axioss rise to prominence.

Swan's reports made him a rising influence in the journalistic scene, but his efforts did rouse controversy. Some commentators accused him of favoring "access over accountability" in light of his refusal to strongly challenge the White House's actions and, in Farhi's view, the lack of depth in his articles, with the one detailing the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital being just 55 words long. According to The New York Times, some held that "he irritates the White House, but rarely infuriates it". His paid speaking engagements, earning him as much as $25,000 per speech, also attracted criticism. In September 2018, Swan reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had resigned, which caused a stir in the media. The report, however, was false. This damaged Axioss reputation, which had already been questioned owing to their articles' perceived shallowness. Nevertheless, Farhi observes that Swan's peers regarded him as a "rigorous and independent reporter".

First Trump interview (2018)

Swan in his 2018 interview with Donald Trump, as he grins exuberantly while inquiring the president on his plan to repeal birthright citizenship

Swan interviewed Trump in October 2018. In one preview clip, Trump revealed that he was planning to end birthright citizenship in the US, a constitutionally protected right. Swan did not challenge the president's claims, some of which were untrue; for example, when Trump falsely declared that no other country had birthright citizenship, Swan said nothing in response. Commentators also pointed out that Swan appeared gleeful and overexcited.

Swan faced stern backlash. Journalist Sam Biddle described the interview as "the ne plus ultra of media toadying" and Libby Watson deemed it "less a news story than … a press release". It only worsened Swan and Axioss reputation of favoring access over accountability. Shortly after the interview, Axios hired a journalist to improve its reputation by lobbying for changes to the Wikipedia articles on itself and Swan; he pushed for promotional material to be included, such as an "Awards and Honors" section, and recommended that controversies related to Swan be whitewashed. Conversely, veteran journalist Bob Woodward argued that he was not soft—he was "tough but fair". Swan regretted his performance.

Second Trump interview (2020)

Two years later, Swan interviewed Trump again. The interview lasted 38 minutes and aired on Axioss HBO series on August 3, 2020. The US was then engulfed in the COVID-19 pandemic that had killed upward of 100,000 Americans as well as nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd. This time, Swan's approach was more critical. He pointedly challenged and spotlit the president's false and misleading statements throughout. When Trump, for example, described the pandemic as being "under control", Swan responded, "How? A thousand Americans are dying a day."

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According to commentators, Swan managed to challenge Trump by deploying an aggressive line of follow-up questions. When Trump ambiguously said, "people say…", Swan replied, "Which people?". The president often could not answer such questions. Daniel Dale of CNN wrote that, in his interviews, Trump would state one false claim after the other in a "hit-and-run" strategy, and interviewers would generally let them pass. However, Swan kept asking "how?", "what?", and "who?", which thwarted Trump's strategy. Journalist David Brody asserted that while Trump often dominated interviews by "commandeering" them, Swan humbled him. This left Trump stumbling through responses as he appeared baffled and unprepared.

Swan was also noted for his facial expressions made in reaction to some of Trump's claims. They shifted between confusion, fury, bemusement, and bewilderment. Beyond the pandemic, commentators pointed out that Swan exposed the president's unwillingness to praise the recently deceased civil rights activist John Lewis as well as his doubling down on "wishing Ghislaine Maxwell well" after her arrest for abetting child prostitution. The interview was widely praised, with The New York Times Ben Smith suggesting it was "the best interview of Mr Trump’s term". Commentators noted Swan's efforts at fact-checking Trump; his approach, they argued, ensured that the president was kept accountable. For his work, Axios was awarded the 2021 Emmy Award for Best Edited Interview. The interview proved a media and internet sensation, and Swan's stunned facial expressions became a viral internet meme.

"Off the Rails"

Shortly before the 2020 presidential election between incumbent president Trump and Joe Biden, Swan revealed what he understood as Trump's plans to claim victory regardless of the outcome, forming part of his wider plan to overturn the results. A few months later, he documented the president's plan and efforts in a nine-part series titled "Off the Rails". The series won Swan the 2022 White House Correspondents' Association's Aldo Beckman Award for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage.

Later efforts

In January 2023, after six years reporting for Axios, Swan joined The New York Times, focusing on congressional Republicans. He now covers Trump's second administration.

Personal life

Swan is married to fellow reporter Betsy Woodruff of Politico; they have two children. He became an American citizen in 2024.

References

Notes

Citations


Bibliography


External links


Category:Australian political journalists
Category:Australian expatriate journalists in the United States
Category:1985 births
Category:Living people
Category:Australian people of Scottish-Jewish descent
Category:21st-century Australian journalists
Category:The Sydney Morning Herald people
Category:People educated at Sydney Grammar School
Category:Jewish Australian journalists
Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States
Category:The New York Times journalists