Michael Koziol
Michael Koziol reports on the exercise of US power and its consequences, with a focus on how American politics, policy and culture are experienced on the ground and understood by an Australian audience. He is the North America correspondent for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, bringing a background in federal political reporting to long-form coverage of the United States and its allies. His work is distinguished by detailed scene-setting and close attention to the human impact of decisions made in Washington, rather than treating US politics as an abstract or purely institutional beat.
US power, foreign policy and global reach
Koziol covers US power as a global force, tracing how American decisions reverberate beyond its borders and into allied relationships. His reporting on the United States bringing criminal charges against former Cuban president Raul Castro shows his interest in the intersection of US law, foreign policy and historic Cold War-era relationships.
He writes on defence and security ties such as the AUKUS submarine agreement, examining the confidence of Australian leaders that the US will remain committed to a $368 billion submarine deal and what that means for long-term strategic planning. Coverage of the US president’s position on Iran, including offers of a “second chance” to negotiate to avert more brutal attacks planned by Israel, reflects his attention to how White House messaging shapes regional stability and diplomatic options.
Koziol also reports on how Australians see the US itself, not just its policies. In work analysing polling data, he has shown that Australians hold some of the least favourable views of the United States and of Donald Trump, connecting foreign policy perceptions to broader attitudes toward American culture and leadership.
Across these pieces, he treats US decisions as part of a wider ecosystem that includes allied governments, public opinion and long-standing security arrangements, keeping an Australian readership in view even when the story is anchored in North America.
On-the-ground reporting from Trump’s America
A hallmark of Koziol’s coverage is immersive reporting inside Trump-era America, where he builds stories from streets, courtrooms and public events rather than only official statements.
He has documented the protests against Trump’s immigration crackdown as they spread across multiple US cities, describing how demonstrations unfolded in places such as New York, Seattle and Denver and how they challenged federal enforcement strategies. His work on curfews and unrest in America’s second-largest city paints a picture of an inner core that looked more like a war zone readying for an air raid, showing the local impact of security measures intended to curb looting and vandalism.
Koziol’s reporting on Trump’s deportation agenda tracks its effects at the level of shops, bars and school gates, and he has written about Los Angeles fighting back against that agenda, underscoring his focus on how policy is felt in everyday life. He has followed legal battles that shape presidential power, including a US appeals court granting Trump a temporary reprieve from a lower court ruling that would have blocked the deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles. In longer-form pieces, he dissects Trump’s style of rule: one article describes Trump running meetings like a TV director and explains what it was like on his “set”, blending political analysis with observations drawn from being in the room.
In another, he attends Trump’s Great American State Fair and reports “what I discovered”, using colour and first-hand encounters to show how Trump supporters and critics share public space.
Koziol often writes about the hardness and unfairness of Trump’s United States, but he balances this by noting that it is not all bad, capturing a nuanced portrait of a country that can be both brutal and resilient. His work frequently foregrounds individuals caught up in US systems, such as Australians interrogated and deported, and lawmakers targeted in violent attacks, to illustrate how broader political currents translate into personal risk and disruption.
Australians and Australian culture in the United States
Beyond formal politics, Koziol devotes significant attention to how Australians live, work and play in the US, treating these stories as another lens on the relationship between the two countries. He has written about Australians hustling to make it on Broadway, profiling performers and creatives who navigate the demands of American showbusiness to build careers far from home.
A feature on footy season in North America follows the spread of Australian rules football beyond Australia, showing how communities in the US embrace the Sherrin and adapt a distinctly Australian game to local conditions.
These cultural pieces often sit alongside his political work, reinforcing a view of the US as a place where Australian citizens, interests and identities are embedded in everyday life. In polling and analysis on Australians’ unfavourable views of the US and Trump, he connects those perceptions to the experiences of Australians who still travel to, work in or engage deeply with America, suggesting that scepticism about US politics can coexist with fascination or opportunity. This combination of political reporting and cultural observation allows Koziol to show how the bilateral relationship plays out not only in parliaments and defence treaties but also in theatres, sports fields and city streets.
Political reporting background and format
Koziol brings a seasoned political reporting background to his North America brief. He has worked as a breaking news reporter, a federal political reporter in Canberra, a Sydney editor and a deputy editor at a Sunday masthead, experience that informs his ability to move between straight news, analysis and narrative features. His current role for The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald sees him producing real-time coverage of events such as manhunts for suspects who kill lawmakers, alongside deeper examinations of defence deals, immigration policy and the conduct of the Trump presidency.
Across platforms, Koziol’s work spans live reporting, analytical pieces and interactive election coverage, including “on the ground” dispatches from US battleground states in the 2024 election cycle. Earlier in his career he also wrote opinion and commentary for other outlets on national politics and social policy, demonstrating familiarity with contested domestic debates as well as international ones. That range enables him to shift tone and format depending on the story: he will file concise news pieces on court decisions or political violence, and then step back to write broader analyses that situate those developments within the trajectory of Trump’s America and Australia’s relationship with the US.
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