Jonathan Swan

Jonathan Swan (born August 7, 1985)^[1] is an Australian journalist, currently serving as a national political reporter for Axios, the media company launched by Politico founders Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei. Swan covers the Trump presidency and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill.^[2]

Swan was the first to report that the U.S. would pull out of the Paris climate deal, the first to report that Trump would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and the first to report that Trump would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals executive action policy that gave work permission to 800,000 illegal immigrants, established in 2012 by the Obama administration.^[3][4][5]

On April 11, 2018, Swan broke the news that the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was retiring from Congress.^[6] On September 24, 2018, he reported that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein verbally resigned and later updated to clarify that he had offered his resignation, but later changed course.^[7] On October 9, 2018, he was the first to report that Trump had accepted the resignation of Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley.^[8]

Swan is known for his insider reporting on White House power struggles, with coverage of Oval Office conversations. He broke the news that Steve Bannon was about to be fired, and he was the first to report that Anthony Scaramucci would step in as communications director –– a hire that roiled the White House and generated months of tabloid gossip.^[9][10]

Swan regularly appears on Morning Joe, Special Report with Bret Baier, Hardball, and PBS News Hour.^[11][12]

Prior to joining Axios, Swan served as national political reporter for The Hill, a Washington-based political newspaper.

In 2016, Politico named Swan one of its '16 breakout media stars' of the U.S. presidential campaign. The article described Swan as one of the few reporters singled out for attention by officials from both Republican and Democratic sides.^[13]

Before moving to the United States, Swan was a national political reporter based in Canberra for Fairfax Media and political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald.^[14][15] As a member of the Herald's reporting team in the Canberra Press Gallery, Swan was presented with the Wallace Brown Award in 2014 for most outstanding young journalist.^[16][17] In 2014, before moving to the U.S., Swan became the youngest panelist on ABC's flagship Sunday political show, Insiders.^[18]

Swan was the Australian selected in 2014 for the prestigious American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellowship. It involved moving to the United States for a yearlong political fellowship, during which he served on a congressional staff before returning to political journalism in 2015.^[16] Swan joined The Hill on 24 August 2015 in Washington D.C. as part of their campaign team.^[19][20]

Personal life

Swan is the son of journalist and radio and television broadcaster Norman Swan.^[21] He is Jewish.^[22]

References