Some Issues and Topics Our Reporters Will Be Following in a Second Trump Presidency — and How to Get in Touch

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by ProPublica

Sixteen years ago, we started ProPublica to do hard-hitting, rigorous journalism that exposes wrongdoing and injustice. In that time, our investigative reporters have covered three presidential administrations, from the Obama administration's failed housing policies to the Trump administration's immigration strategies that separated parents from their children at the border to the Biden administration's failure to uphold U.S. law when it came to arming the Israelis.

Now that Donald Trump is the president-elect for the second time, we will once again turn our focus to the areas most in need of scrutiny at this moment in history. As our editor-in-chief wrote yesterday, that's what our more than 150 working journalists do.

We will watch closely as the Trump/Vance administration takes shape and makes plans. To find stories, we will, as always, rely on insights from people closest to the issues. Concerned public servants are some of our most important sources. This has never been more true. If you are a federal employee, is there unfinished business - a sensitive project, a little-known but key policy, an important lawsuit - you worry will be quashed or left to molder? Are there records, research or databases you feel strongly should be preserved?

We appreciate the difficult situations people weigh as they decide whether to reach out to us, and we take source privacy very seriously. Read more about ProPublica's approach to investigative journalism in our ethics code. If you have tips, documents, data or stories the public should know about, you can contact all of our journalists at propublica.org/tips. Here's information on how to do so securely. And if you don't have a specific tip or story in mind, we could still use your help. Sign up to be a member of our federal worker source network to stay in touch.

We will tell you more about our whole team and about our coverage plans in the months to come. We work across a number of beats and disciplines, from tax policy to education to health care. We have data reporters who can handle complicated datasets and public records specialists eager to strategize.

Here are just a few examples of the topics we're thinking about, plus contact information for some reporters on the beat:

Rule of Law

Andy Kroll

I cover justice and the rule of law, with a focus on the Justice Department, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the federal courts. Since joining ProPublica in 2022, I have reported on dark money, Christian nationalism, conservative plans to dismantle the civil service and other stories about American democracy. Send me tips on the transition, pardons, appointments, political interference, conflicts of interest and abuses of power inside the DOJ or other law enforcement agencies.

Trump's Business Interests

Robert Faturechi

I have been reporting on Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social. Our stories have focused on the conflicts of interest Trump's stake in the company present and allegations of mismanagement and cronyism within the company. (The company has denied the allegations.) If you know anything about Trump Media or Trump's other businesses, please get in touch. I'm also reporting on the Trump administration's trade policies, including tariffs. Contact me if you work for Trump Media, the Commerce Department or the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, or know anything about lobbying efforts to win tariff exemptions.

  • Email: robert.faturechi@propublica.org
  • Signal/WhatsApp: 213-271-7217
  • Mailing address: Robert Faturechi c/o ProPublica155 Avenue of the Americas13th FloorNew York, NY 10013
Immigration

Melissa Sanchez

I report on immigration and labor in the Midwest. Trump ran on a campaign that promised the largest deportation operations in our nation's history. I'd like to talk to people with inside information about how that might happen, where and the backroom conversations about what industries, employers or regions of the country will be left out. I am also interested in how some of these issues will play out in local schools. I have lived and reported in Latin America and speak Spanish fluently.

  • Email: melissa.sanchez@propublica.org
  • Phone/Signal/WhatsApp: 872-444-0011
  • Mailing address:Melissa Sanchez c/o ProPublica211 W. Wacker DriveChicago, IL 60606

Mica Rosenberg

I cover immigration nationally and I am interested in writing about how changes in the U.S. immigration system directly impact people's lives, as well as potential conflicts of interests that could arise between business and government. I have covered this beat since 2015, was a foreign correspondent in Latin America and am fluent in Spanish.

Trump and Billionaires

Justin Elliott

I'm interested in the relationships between Trump and the country's richest people and their companies. That includes major donors to his campaign - not only prominent figures like Elon Musk but also lesser-known billionaires such as the hedge fund manager Paul Singer and heir Timothy Mellon. My interest also extends to billionaires who are sure to have business before the government under Trump but who have previously supported Democrats, such as Jeff Bezos.

Do you work for a billionaire who might have business with Trump? Do you work for one of their companies? Do you have knowledge of these relationships more generally? Please get in touch. For more on how I handle tips and story ideas, read this piece I wrote on the important role of reader tips in our coverage of the Supreme Court.

Foreign Affairs/Policy

Brett Murphy

The Trump administration is set to inherit twin crises in the Middle East and Ukraine, as well as a global struggle for the economic and technological edge over our rivals. It's still unclear how much he will want to intervene or isolate the U.S. while addressing crucial questions about our future on the global stage. I'm going to be covering the federal agencies at the center of the administration's foreign affairs agenda and the corporations that help carry it out. Reach out if you work at the State Department, the Pentagon or anywhere else with tips about how the U.S. is influencing other countries' governments - and how they might be influencing ours.

Joshua Kaplan

I will be covering diplomacy, the Department of Defense and how the U.S. government is using its power abroad. That could include stories ranging from an overlooked aspect of a major conflict to an unusual phone call with a foreign leader. I am particularly interested in the ways that foreign policy intersects with business or ideological interests.

And I'm always drawn to stories about conflicts of interest, in any agency and any form. In 2023, I co-reported a series of stories that revealed how a set of politically influential billionaires provided decades of undisclosed gifts to Supreme Court justices. Those articles helped spur the court to adopt its first-ever code of conduct and received a Pulitzer Prize.

Environmental Regulations

Sharon Lerner

I cover health and the environment and the agencies that govern them, including the Environmental Protection Agency. Even under Democratic administrations, the EPA sometimes bends to pressure from the powerful chemical, pesticide and energy companies it regulates. But during Trump's first presidency, many of the political appointees running the agency had spent their careers up to that point challenging it. Others were simply unqualified and conflicted, as I reported then. This time around, Trump has already told oil executives he would roll back environmental rules and policies, including climate protections instituted by the Biden administration.

I welcome tips from scientists inside or outside the agency, people who have direct knowledge about Trump political appointees or nominees, and anyone aware of schemes to loosen protections on health and the environment.

Mark Olalde

I'm interested in Trump's and his allies' promises to dismantle the federal bureaucracy and laws that protect the environment. I'm looking to speak with people with inside knowledge of decision-making in the federal government, especially the Department of the Interior and its agencies. I'm also interested in information from other environmentally focused divisions of the government, from the Department of Energy to the U.S. Forest Service.

I have investigated environmental issues ranging from the failure to properly clean up oil and gas wells and uranium mills to the mismanagement of the Colorado River and corporate bankruptcies. Based in the West, I typically report in front-line communities, including tribal nations.

Religious and Conservative Policy

Molly Redden

I'm reporting on how the Trump/Vance administration will carry out its cultural agenda. I'm interested in hearing from federal workers seeing rightward shifts in policy on civil rights, religion, free expression, LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive health, and people with insight into how ideological groups and donors who helped reelect Trump are trying to influence White House policymaking.

Technology

Renee Dudley

I report on technology and cybersecurity. I enjoy taking on topics that have been long ignored because they are not easily understood. I spend dozens of hours speaking with sources to unpack complex technical subjects, from esoteric cybersecurity tools to arcane government contracts. I aim to reach as deep an understanding as possible of the areas I report on. Although most of the minute details will never be published, I tell my sources that grappling with the material ultimately helps me to write more authoritatively. Contact me to discuss big tech, AI and how the nation is confronting the threat of cyber warfare.

Reproductive Health

Kavitha Surana

I have been reporting on changes to reproductive health care access since Roe v. Wade was overturned. We have recently been investigating deaths related to state abortion bans, and I am interested in speaking with anyone who might have knowledge about how hospitals or medical staff have responded to the new laws or anyone who has questions about the treatment they or a loved one received. Here's more information on reaching our whole team.

Federal Poverty Policy

Eli Hager

I cover poverty issues, including housing, labor and union protections, child support, child welfare, disability benefits, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid. I plan to watch how the incoming administration handles federal poverty policy, as well as state and local social services agencies and private companies that profit off of the poor. Are you a current or former federal employee with insight into federal poverty programs? Or a congressional staffer who'll be handling the new president's budget proposals on these issues? Please reach out.

Health Care Policy

Annie Waldman

I am an investigative health care reporter digging into how money and influence impact the American health care system. I am eager to hear from patients, doctors, federal agency workers and industry insiders about how the new administration is approaching health care. I want to learn about what's going on inside federal health agencies - for example, the National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - and how their actions impact everyday Americans.

This is just a small sample of our reporting team. We will continue to share our areas of interest as the news develops. You can hear more from our journalists about their work by signing up for our Dispatches newsletter.

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