Susanne Craig

Susanne Leigh Craig was born in Calgary, Alberta, growing up in its Charleswood neighbourhood, and attended the University of Calgary, graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.{{cite web|url=https://www.ucalgary.ca/alumni/awards/top40|title=Top 40 Alumni - Alumni - University of Calgary|access-date=August 13, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917062200/http://www.ucalgary.ca/alumni/awards/top40|archive-date=September 17, 2016}}{{cite news |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/journalist-whose-pulitzer-worthy-work-skewered-trumps-business-claims-comes-home |title=Journalist whose Pulitzer-worthy work skewered Trump's business claims comes home |author=Kaufman, Bill |date=September 6, 2019 |access-date=October 9, 2024 |newspaper=The Calgary Herald }} {{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.ucalgary.ca/asset-management/2R3BF1FKHV51A |title=University of Calgary Convocation, Part I, June 5th, 1991 |website=University of Calgary |access-date=2024-12-20 }}

While at the University of Calgary, she volunteered as a reporter for the campus paper The Gauntlet where she got her start in journalism and reported on topics like student politics, dinner theatre, and movie reviews.{{cite web|url=https://ucalgary.ca/news/gauntlet-pulitzer-discover-susanne-craigs-journey|title=From the Gauntlet to a Pulitzer, Discover Susanne Craig's journey | access-date=August 13, 2016 |newspaper=The Gauntlet}}{{cite web |url=https://ucalgary.ca/convocation/spring-2019/susanne-craig |title=Susanne Craig |website=University Of Calgary |access-date=October 12, 2024}} {{cite web |url=https://alumni.ucalgary.ca/magazine/fall-winter-2019/notebook/path-pulitzer |title=The Path to the Pulitzer |website= University of Calgary |author=Cummings, Deb |access-date=2024-12-20 }}

Craig began her career as a summer intern for the Calgary Herald in 1990 where she covered various city transit topics and the career of Canada's first elected senator, Stan Waters. Although she struggled finding work due to a lack of formal education in journalism, her experience at the Herald encouraged her to keep pursuing a career in reporting.{{cite news |url=https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/former-calgary-herald-writer-at-heart-of-trump-tax-return-bombshell |title=Former Calgary Herald writer at heart of Trump tax return bombshell |author=Postmedia News |work=The Calgary Herald |date=October 3, 2016 |access-date=September 22, 2024 }}

She later worked on a summer contract for the Windsor Star in 1991, and after winning the inaugural Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize for young journalists, she was offered a full-time job as a reporter at the paper in Windsor, Ontario. She then spent four years at The Star where she worked on reporting police stories and the North American Free Trade Agreement's effect on Heinz's operations in Leamington, Ontario.

First introduced to business reporting after taking on a one-month contract with The Financial Post, Craig then moved on to join The Globe and Mail in Toronto where she won the National Newspaper Award in Canada (Business – 1999) and also accepted an Honourable Mention Michener Award on behalf of the Globe.{{cite web|url=http://www.nna-ccj.ca/award-archives/list-of-winners-since-1949/|title=Winners since 1949 - National Newspaper Awards|website=nna-ccj.ca|access-date=August 13, 2016}} {{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/pulitzer-susanne-craig-new-york-times-trump-1.5273007 |title='Investigative journalism really matters,' says Pulitzer Prize winner from Calgary |author=Kost, Hannah |date=September 6, 2019 |access-date=October 9, 2024 |work=CBC News }}{{cite web |url=https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/record?app=fonandcol&IdNumber=4170924&wbdisable=true |title=Reporter Susanne Craig accepts 1999 Michener Honourable Mention award from Governor General Adrienne Clarkson on behalf of the Globe and Mail |date=April 10, 2000 |access-date=September 9, 2024 |website=Government of Canada}}

She then went on to become a reporter for the Wall Street Journal where she has recounted a story of her interview process at the paper with Daniel Hertzberg where he allegedly said to her “money, power, and greed; what more can a reporter want?” while overlooking the New York Stock Exchange.{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fByYXIVW_k|title=Covering Power and Money: A conversation with Susanne Craig and Rachel Abrams of the New York Times|publisher=YouTube|date=2019-08-15|time=3m15s}} While at the WSJ, she became the recipient of several Gerald Loeb Awards including one for deadline writing on the resignation of New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso. {{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/pulitzer-susanne-craig-new-york-times-trump-1.5273007 |title='Investigative journalism really matters,' says Pulitzer Prize winner from Calgary |author=Kost, Hannah |date=September 6, 2019 |access-date=October 9, 2024 |work=CBC News }} Additionally, she was the lead journalist on a team that was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for National Affairs Reporting for coverage of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB122152314746339697?msockid=048cd14039ad67581eb9c451385d66f5 |title=AIG, Lehman Shock Hits World Markets |author=Susanne Craig |date=September 16, 2008 |access-date=October 9, 2024 |url-access=subscription |id={{ProQuest|399089034}}}}{{ cite web |url=https://ago.ca/events/power-money-and-trump-reporting-post-truth-president |website=Art Gallery of Ontario |title=Power, Money and Trump: Reporting on a Post-Truth President }}

In 2010, Craig joined The New York Times to continue reporting on Wall Street as part of its business section and DealBook newsletter. She was later promoted to the bureau chief of New York City Hall for coverage of the New York State government in 2013, and moved to Albany, New York in 2014 to continue covering on state government and municipal politics.{{cite news |url=http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/198037/times-names-susanne-craig-as-albany-bureau-chief/|title=Times names Susanne Craig as Albany, New York bureau chief|date=October 29, 2013|publisher=Hearst Communications |author=Sealer, Casey |newspaper=Times Union |access-date=September 23, 2016}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.cjr.org/the_audit/susanne_craig_leaving_wsj_for.php|title=Susanne Craig leaving WSJ for the NYT|magazine=Columbia Journalism Review |author=Starkman, Dean |date=July 30, 2010|access-date=September 23, 2016}}{{cite web |title=Journal{{'}}s Susanne Craig Jumps to New York Times DealBook Section|date=August 30, 2010 |url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2010/08/journals_susanne_craig_jumps_t.html|access-date=September 23, 2016|work=New York Magazine|author=Rozvar, Chris}}{{cite web | title=Susanne Craig | website=The New York Times | date=2018-09-10 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/by/susanne-craig | access-date=2025-03-16}}

On October 1, 2016, The New York Times published an article authored by Craig and her colleagues David Barstow and Megan Twohey, which stated that Donald Trump had reported a loss of $916 million in 1995, which could have allowed him to avoid paying income taxes for up to eighteen years.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-taxes.html|title=Donald Trump Tax Records Show He Could Have Avoided Taxes for Nearly Two Decades, The Times Found|date=October 2, 2016|work=The New York Times | author-last=Craig | author-first=Susanne | author2-last=Barstow | author2-first=David | author3-last=Twohey | author3-first= Megan | author4-last=Buettner | author4-first=Russ }} {{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/10/02/496317209/nyt-reporter-on-reporting-on-leaked-trump-taxes |work=NPR |title='NYT' Reporter On Reporting On Leaked Trump Taxes |author=Martin, Michel |date=

October 2, 2016 |access-date=October 12, 2024}} In subsequent television interviews, Craig described having received a portion of Trump's 1995 tax records, around which the story was based, in her mailbox from an anonymous sender.{{Cite web|title=Tax documents are 'important window' into Trump|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/times-reporter-susanne-craig-thinks-tax-documents-are-important-window-n659001|access-date=March 4, 2021|website=NBC News|date=October 4, 2016 |language=en | author-last=McFadden | author-first=Cynthia | author2-last=Bailey | author2-first=Chelsea }} She wrote that the experience "has left me eager to share a bit of advice with my fellow reporters: Check your mailboxes. Especially nowadays, when people are worried that anything sent by email will leave forensic fingerprints, 'snail mail' is a great way to communicate with us anonymously."{{Cite web |last=Craig |first=Susanne |date=October 2, 2016 |title=The Time I Found Donald Trump's Tax Records in My Mailbox |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/03/insider/the-time-i-found-donald-trumps-tax-records-in-my-mailbox.html |website=The New York Times}}

On October 2, 2018, the Times published a 14,000-word exposé co-authored by Craig, David Barstow, and Russ Buettner titled "Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father."{{cite news |title=Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html?module=inline |author1=Craig, Susanne |author2=Barstow, David |author3=Buettner, Russ |date=October 2, 2018 |access-date=September 22, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}{{cite web |url=https://www.journalism.cuny.edu/events/inside-blockbuster-new-york-times-trump-tax-story-susanne-craig/ |title=Inside the Blockbuster New York Times Trump Tax Story with Susanne Craig |website=Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism |date=October 31, 2017 |access-date=October 12, 2024}} The findings of the story was based on over 100,000 pages worth of documents, both public sources and private disclosures, that allegedly revealed the inner workings of Trump's financial practices and claimed misleading statements about his self-made wealth and business empire.{{cite news |url=https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/10/times-report-trump-wealth-largely-based-on-tax-scams-and-bailouts-from-dad/ |title=Times Report: Trump Wealth Largely Based on Tax Scams and Bailouts From Dad |author=Drum, Kevin |work=Mother Jones |date=October 2, 2018 |access-date=September 22, 2024 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4850942 |title=Trump committed 'outright fraud': Why a blockbuster headline goes so far |date=October 6, 2018 |author=Swain, Diana |access-date=October 14, 2024 |work=CBC News }}

In 2019, Craig and the two other reporters shared the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for "an exhaustive 18-month investigation of President Donald Trump's finances that debunked his claims of self-made wealth and revealed a business empire riddled with tax dodges".{{cite web|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/david-barstow-susanne-craig-and-russ-buettner-new-york-times|title=David Barstow, Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner of The New York Times |year=2019|work=Pulitzer.org |access-date=May 20, 2021}} They also shared the 2019 George Polk Award for Political Reporting.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/us/politics/george-polk-awards.html|title=New York Times Wins Two George Polk Awards |last=Sullivan |first=Eileen |date=February 19, 2019|work=The New York Times |access-date=May 20, 2021}}

On September 27, 2020, Craig and others further reported on Trump's tax record, demonstrating how Trump paid $750 in federal income tax during 2016 and no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html | title=Long-Concealed Records Show Trump's Chronic Losses and Years of Tax Avoidance |author=Craig, Susanne |author2=Buttner, Russ |author3=McIntire, Mike |work=The New York Times |date=September 27, 2020 |access-date=September 22, 2024 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/09/27/report-trump-only-paid-750-in-taxes-for-2016-and-2017/ |title=Report: Trump Only Paid $750 In Taxes For 2016 And 2017 |author=Reimann, Nicholas |work=Forbes |date=September 27, 2020 |access-date=October 14, 2024 }}

Craig has stated that since her coverage of Trump and his finances, she has received death threats and high-profile criticism.{{cite news |url=https://windsorstar.com/tag/pulitzer-prize/ |title=Former Star journalist Susanne Craig named to Order of Canada |date=November 29, 2023 |access-date=September 19, 2024 |author=MacLeod, Brian |work=The Windsor Star }} In 2020, Donald Trump sued The New York Times Company, Craig, Buettner, Barstow, and Mary L. Trump, accusing his niece of conspiring with the reporters in an "insidious plot" to obtain his tax records.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/03/nyregion/donald-trump-new-york-times-lawsuit.html |title= Judge Dismisses Trump's Lawsuit Against The New York Times |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Stack, Liam |date=May 3, 2023 |access-date=October 20, 2024 }} In May 2023, a New York Supreme Court judge in Manhattan dismissed the lawsuit, concluding that Donald Trump's claims "fail as a matter of constitutional law" and that investigation into his finances was protected by the First Amendment.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/03/nyregion/donald-trump-new-york-times-lawsuit.html |title= Judge Dismisses Trump's Lawsuit Against The New York Times |newspaper=The New York Times |author=Stack, Liam |date=May 3, 2023 |access-date=October 20, 2024 }} The court also ordered him to pay nearly $392,000 to the Times and its reporters to cover the cost of the legal defense; the order was made under the anti-SLAPP law, which penalizes baseless litigation aimed at silencing criticism.{{cite news|author=Michael R. Sistak|title=Donald Trump ordered to pay The New York Times and its reporters nearly $400,000 in legal fees|url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-new-york-times-taxes-lawsuit-slapp-f39342501d9a2a5cfd36181f9f336215|work=Associated Press News|date=January 12, 2024}}

In 2021, Craig started serving as an on-air analyst for MSNBC, where she has spoken about her research into Trump's finances, tax returns, and his indictment and criminal trial. {{cite magazine |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/contributor/russ-buettner-and-susanne-craig |title=Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig |magazine=Vanity Fair |access-date=October 14, 2024 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/transcript-rachel-maddow-show-8-10-22-n1298427 |title=The Rachel Maddow Show, 8/10/22 |author=Maddow, Rachel |date=October 8, 2022 |access-date=October 14, 2024 |work=MSNBC}} She has also spoken on-air about her reporting on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. {{cite web |url=https://www.msnbc.com/jose-diaz-balart/watch/how-addiction-and-trauma-shaped-rfk-jr-s-life-nyt-226040901668 |title= How addiction and trauma shaped RFK Jr.'s life – NYT |website=MSNBC |date=2024-12-04 |access-date=2024-12-20 }}

{{Main|Lucky Loser (book)}}

File:NYC Trump court trial 2024-04-22 066.jpg

On February 22, 2024, Craig announced through an Axios exclusive that she would be publishing a book titled Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created The Illusion of Success with Penguin Random House LLC in collaboration with her colleague Russ Buettner on September 10, 2024. The book would draw on over twenty years' worth of Trump's confidential tax information, including the tax returns he tried to conceal, alongside business records and interviews with Trump insiders.{{ cite news |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/02/22/ny-times-reporters-fall-expose-trump-taxes |title=Exclusive: N.Y. Times reporters plan fall exposé on Trump's taxes |author=Allen, Mike |date=February 24, 2024 |access-date=October 9, 2024 |publisher=Axios}} It was released on September 17, 2024.

In interviews, Craig said she intended to present a fact-based account of Trump's alleged financial mismanagement, drawing attention to the contradictions between his public persona and private failures. The book was met with highly positive critical reception, especially for its investigative depth and narration of Fred Trump's life and finances and how it bolstered his son's fortune.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/sep/26/lucky-loser-review-how-donald-trump-squandered-his-wealth |title=Lucky Loser review – how Donald Trump squandered his wealth |website=The Guardian |date=September 26, 2024 |author=Delong, Brad |access-date=September 28, 2024 }} Critics like Bethany Maclean of The Washington Post said "the news in their book lies not in one specific detail, but rather in the sheer accumulation of damning facts", while John Cassidy of The New Yorker praised Craig for making the argument that "he's a lousy businessman who only got as far as he did because of a series of lucky breaks that could paper over a litany of failure and still fund a lavish life."{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/09/17/lucky-loser-donald-trump-finances-susanne-craig-russ-buettner-review/ |title=Donald Trump's financial failures are stunning. 'Lucky Loser' has the receipts |author=Mclean, Bethany |date=September 17, 2024 |access-date=September 17, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post }}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-financial-page/donald-trumps-many-lucky-breaks| author=Cassidy, John |title=Donald Trump's Many Lucky Breaks |magazine=The New Yorker |date=September 23, 2024 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}

While praised for the pursuit of truth behind Trump's financial empire, Craig faced public criticism from Trump's camp. Campaign advisor Steven Cheung dismissed the book as a "desperate attempt to interfere" in the 2024 United States presidential election. Craig has defended the integrity of her work, pointing to the years of rigorous fact-checking and source verification involved.{{cite news |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/09/17/trump-wealth-lucky-loser-book |title="Lucky loser:" New book details how Trump got rich |author=Peck, Emily |date=September 17, 2024 |access-date=September 17, 2024 |publisher=Axios }}

• 1991 Inaugural Edward Goff Penny Award{{cite web |url=https://nmc-mic.ca/goff-penny-awards/previous-winners/ |title=THE HON. EDWARD GOFF PENNY MEMORIAL PRIZES FOR YOUNG CANADIAN JOURNALISTS |website=News Media Canada |access-date=September 9, 2024}}
• 1999 National Newspaper Awards – Business
• 1999 Michener Award for The Globe and Mail – Honourable Mention
• 2004 Gerald Loeb Award for Deadline Writing shared with Ianthe Jeanne Dugan, Kate Kelly and Theo Frances for "The Day Grasso Quit as NYSE Chief"{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jun-30-fi-loeb30-story.html |title=L.A. Times Columnist Wins Loeb Award |date=June 30, 2004 |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=February 1, 2019}}
• 2008 Gerald Loeb Award for Beat Writing shared with Kate Kelly, Serena Ng, David Reilly for "Breakdown at Bear Stearns"{{Cite web |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/1791539/2008-gerald-loeb-award-winners-announced-ucla-anderson-school-management |title=2008 Gerald Loeb Award Winners Announced by UCLA Anderson School of Management |date=October 28, 2011 |website=Fast Company |access-date=February 1, 2019}}
• 2009 Gerald Loeb Award for Breaking News shared with Carrick Mollenkamp, Serena Ng, Aaron Lucchetti, Matthew Karnitschnig, Dan Fitzpatrick, Deborah Solomon, Dennis K. Berman, Liam Pleven, Peter Lattman and Annelena Lobb for "The Day That Changed Wall Street"{{Cite web |url=https://www.anderson.ucla.edu/news-and-events/signature-events/gerald-loeb-awards/winners/historical-winners |title=Loeb Winners |date=June 29, 2009 |website=UCLA Anderson School of Management |access-date=February 1, 2019}}
• 2017 Inaugural Nellie Bly Award for Investigative Reporting – Museum of Political Corruption{{ cite web |url=https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Times-reporter-wins-first-Nellie-Bly-award-11122167.php |title=New York Times reporter Susanne Craig wins first Nellie Bly award |author=Seiler, Casey |work=Times Union |date=May 4, 2017 |access-date=September 22, 2024 }}
• 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting shared with David Barstow and Russ Buettner for The New York Times
• 2019 George Polk Award for Political Reporting, shared with the same two colleagues
• 2019 Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing Best in Business Award - Real Estate, shared with same two colleagues. {{cite web |url=https://sabew.org/2019/03/real-estate-large/ |title=Winner – The New York Times: Trump taxes |website=Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing |date=2019-02-26 |access-date=2024-12-20 }}
• 2019 Honorary LLD from University of Calgary{{cite news |url=https://thegauntlet.ca/2019/04/24/gauntlet-alumna-wins-pulitzer-prize-awarded-honorary-degree-from-u-of-c/ |title=Gauntlet alumna wins Pulitzer Prize, awarded honorary degree from U of C |work=The Gauntlet |author=Khoeler, Kristy |date=April 15, 2019 |access-date=September 9, 2024 }} {{cite web |url=https://ucalgary.ca/news/class-2019-advocate-arts-and-pulitzer-prize-winning-investigative-reporter-honoured-during |title=Class of 2019: Advocate for the arts and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter honoured during convocation ceremonies |website=University of Calgary |date=June 5, 2019 |access-date=October 12, 2024 }}
• 2021 Society of Professional Journalists' NYC Club's Daniel Pearl Prize for Investigative Reporting shared with the same winners as the Pulitzer.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytco.com/press/times-wins-4-deadline-club-awards/ |title=Times Wins 4 Deadline Club Awards |website=The New York Times Company |date=May 18, 2021 |access-date=October 13, 2024 }}
• 2023 Member of the Order of Canada{{cite web|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/order-canada-appointees-december-2023|title=Order of Canada appointees – December 2023 |date=December 22, 2023 |publisher=Governor General of Canada|accessdate=December 28, 2023}}

Craig is the sister-in-law of former Calgary city councillor Ward Sutherland. {{cite news |url= https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/former-calgarian-wins-pulitzer-for-uncovering-trumps-questionable-finances |title= Former Calgarian wins Pulitzer for uncovering Trump's questionable finances |author=Rumboldt, Ryan |work=The Calgary Herald |date=April 16, 2019 |access-date=September 20, 2024 }}

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