Josh Dawsey

Washington, D.C.

Political investigations and enterprise reporter

Education: University of South Carolina

Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal.
Latest from Josh Dawsey

Trump aide sought payments from job seekers, internal legal review found

Boris Epshteyn used his proximity to the president-elect to benefit himself, a Trump legal review found. He denies the allegation.

November 25, 2024
Boris Epshteyn, center, is a top adviser to President-elect Donald Trump.

Sharp elbows and raised voices: Inside Trump’s bumpy transition

His freewheeling team has returned to the patterns of his first term in office — with shouting matches, expulsions from meetings and name-calling.

November 23, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump's motorcade departs his residence at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.

Trump plans to fire Jack Smith’s team, use DOJ to probe 2020 election

The plans show how president-elect Donald Trump wants to use the Justice Department to address his own personal grievances.

November 22, 2024
Special counsel Jack Smith, seen in June 2023, plans to resign and wrap up his federal prosecutions of Trump before he takes office and can oust him.

Matt Gaetz attorney general confirmation was in doubt ahead of withdrawal

Trump’s pick to run the Justice Department faced an all-but-impossible path to confirmation, even in a GOP-led Senate next year

November 21, 2024
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) at a House Rules Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on Nov. 1, 2023.

Trump ignores transition rules. It’s a ‘hostile takeover,’ ally says.

Donald Trump’s transition team has begun what a close ally calls a hostile takeover of the federal government, ignoring the rules for the handover of power in the process.

November 19, 2024
Law enforcement officials outside of President-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort on Nov. 16 in Palm Beach, Florida. The Trump administration has been announcing a number of nominees to fill out his upcoming administration.

The Trump Trials: Inside counsel

Donald Trump’s personal lawyers are tapped for top Justice Department jobs, and other news from Trump’s four criminal cases.

November 17, 2024
Donald Trump alongside his attorney Todd Blanche after the conclusion of his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30 in New York.

Defense pick Hegseth paid accuser but denies sexual assault, attorney says

Documents obtained by The Post provide extensive detail about an allegation that Pete Hegseth sexually assaulted a woman in 2017.

November 16, 2024
Pete Hegseth on Dec. 31, 2021 in Nashville.

Trump picks fracking firm CEO Chris Wright to be energy secretary

The executive has taken a defiant approach to fighting climate change by attacking policies that call for shifting away from fossil fuels.

November 16, 2024
Liberty Energy CEO Chris Wright, center, talks with NYSE Group President Thomas Farley on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange when the company became publicly traded in January 2018.

Trump won. The celebrations started. Then the trouble began.

The president-elect has been operating off his own script, making Cabinet picks that have posed immediate political challenges.

November 16, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump attends the America First Policy Institute Gala at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday.

Trump taps combative aide for top press job as Cabinet picks face scrutiny

Trump chose Steven Cheung, one of his most bellicose aides, for the top White House press job. He also named Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary.

November 15, 2024
Trump press secretary Steven Cheung speaks to reporters May 28 in New York.