‘Huge Get for NYT’: Star Reporter Jonathan Swan Leaves Axios For the Times

The Gray Lady has scored a star reporter, drafting Jonathan Swan from Axios to The New York Times’ politics team, the paper announced on Friday.

A column by Times Politics Editor David Halbfinger and Washington Bureau Chief Elisabeth Bumiller, touted the “insightful, authoritative and addictive coverage” of their politics team, including Maggie Haberman and Michael Bender, before announcing Swan’s hire.

Halbfinger and Bumiller wrote they were “thrilled” to have Swan on board, describing him as “a gifted, dogged and high-impact reporter” and “one of the biggest news breakers and best-sourced reporters in Washington.”

“Even if you have never met Jonathan, you know his stories,” they added, listing some of Swan’s breaking stories about former President Donald Trump, like recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, and firing adviser Steve Bannon. Swan won an Emmy for his interview with Trump — as well as going viral for his unfiltered facial expressions reacting to the former president’s comments.

Swan will begin his tenure at the Times in January “covering Capitol Hill, where he will focus on the Republican party and its fragile coalition in Congress,” before joining the politics team next summer.

CNN’s senior media reporter Oliver Darcy called the news a “huge get for NYT.”

Swan tweeted that Axios “has been family to me for the past six years,” calling the media outlet “the best place I have ever worked” and expressing his “bottomless gratitude” to Axios founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz.

“It’s bittersweet for sure,” Swan added, “but thrilled to join the NYT next year, a paper I’ve admired forever.”

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