Susanne Craig is an investigative journalist with The New York Times, known for her impactful reporting that holds people accountable and exposes wrongdoing. Her work on the financial dealings of prominent politicians like Donald J. Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is well-known to a wide audience. To learn more about Craig’s journey to becoming a prominent media figure, check out her story on calgaryski.net.
Growing Up in Calgary
Born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Susanne Craig grew up in the Charleswood neighbourhood. She attended the University of Calgary, graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Management.
It was during this time that Craig began her journalism career as a volunteer reporter for the campus newspaper, The Gauntlet. The independent, bi-weekly student paper, which operates free from university administration and the Students’ Union, has a circulation of 4,000 copies and gets over 50,000 monthly online views. Although the paper experimented with a monthly magazine format in 2017, it returned to its original bi-weekly newspaper format in 2019.
At The Gauntlet, Craig got her start covering a wide range of topics that intrigued her, including student politics, dinner theatre, and film reviews.
Early Career: From Intern to Award-Winner
In 1990, Craig took a summer internship at the Calgary Herald, where she covered urban transit and Canada’s first-ever elected senator, Stan Waters. Despite not having a formal journalism degree, the experience cemented her desire to pursue a career in the field.
She then secured a summer contract with the Windsor Star in 1991. It was there that Craig won the prestigious Edward Goff Penny Memorial Prize for Young Journalists—a major accomplishment and a huge push for the ambitious young reporter. Following her success, the Windsor Star offered her a permanent position as a reporter.
Over the next four years at The Star, Craig diligently worked on various stories, including police reports and the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Heinz’s operations in Leamington, Ontario.
Her career continued with short stints at The Financial Post and then The Globe and Mail. Her work was recognized with a Canadian National Newspaper Award in 1999 and an honourable mention for the Michener Award, one of the highest honours in Canadian journalism. Craig has also won multiple Gerald Loeb Awards for her outstanding business and financial reporting. One of her highly praised pieces focused on the resignation of New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso.
Another major achievement was her coverage of the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, which made her a Pulitzer Prize finalist for National Reporting.
Making a Mark at The New York Times
For many journalists, a job at The New York Times is an unattainable dream. But for Craig, it became a reality in 2010 when she joined the renowned American newspaper. She continued her reporting on Wall Street and was promoted to bureau chief of the New York City Mayor’s office in 2013. Craig relocated to New York to build her career, though she never forgot her hometown of Calgary.
In 2016, Craig, along with fellow journalists David Barstow and Megan Twohey, published an explosive article revealing that Donald Trump had reported a nearly $916 million loss in 1995. In later interviews, Craig stated that she had received part of Trump’s tax documents anonymously in her mailbox. Then, in 2018, Craig, Barstow, and Russ Buettner published another hard-hitting article titled “Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes and Reaped Riches From His Father.” This monumental work was based on an 18-month investigation into Trump’s finances and earned the journalists a 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Journalism and a George Polk Award for Political Journalism.
This work brought Craig a new level of fame, but it wasn’t the end of her investigations. In 2020, the same trio of journalists reported on Trump’s tax history, revealing that he had paid only $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and had paid no taxes at all for 15 of the previous years. Learn more about the journalist behind the story, just like the story of Canadian singer and multi-instrumentalist Kiesza from Calgary.
Spotlight and Scrutiny
The investigation put Craig squarely in the public eye. While many readers praised her work, others wished her death. The criticism she received for her reporting culminated in 2020 when Donald Trump sued The New York Times and the journalists involved, also accusing his niece, Mary L. Trump, of conspiring with the journalists to provide his tax documents.
In May 2023, the New York Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit, citing its incompatibility with constitutional law. The court also ordered Trump to pay nearly $392,000 to the newspaper and the journalists to cover their legal defence costs.
Since 2021, Craig has been a regular on MSNBC, where she shares her insights on financial investigations, tax returns, and the criminal case against Donald Trump. She also focuses on her reporting on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a topic she has covered extensively, just like famous TV host from Calgary Pat Kiernan.
The Book: “Lucky Loser”
Co-authored with her colleague Russ Buettner, Craig’s book is titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created an Illusion of Success.” Published by Penguin Random House LLC on September 17, 2024, the book was met with a mixed reception.
As with her previous work on Donald Trump, the book was praised by some for its truth-seeking and bravery, while others—particularly Trump supporters—criticized it. Stephen Cheung even called it a desperate attempt to interfere with the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
A Triumphant Return to Calgary
In 2019, Craig returned to Calgary to speak at an alumni event at the University of Calgary. At the sold-out event, she fondly recalled how her work at the student newspaper sparked her passion for journalism. Following that feeling led her to The New York Times and, eventually, a Pulitzer Prize.
During her trip, the journalist visited The Gauntlet, a visit she described as “a great trip down memory lane” and “a clear reminder of the importance of an independent press.”
Craig is committed to journalistic ethics, striving to uphold the standards of integrity outlined in the New York Times’ handbook. She strives to be accurate and fair in all her reporting.
The University of Calgary awarded Craig an honorary degree, a recognition that held deep personal meaning for her. She recalled that she hadn’t been a great high school student, but everything changed for her at the university. On a lighter note, Craig, David Barstow, and Russ Buettner are featured in the Showtime documentary “The Family Business: Trump and Taxes.”