Beat Academy: The States, Trump and Democracy

In this free, 75-minute Poynter webinar, you can master the tools to connect Washington decisions to local stories — essential coverage as the 2026 elections approach.

By the end of this course, you will:

• Understand the customary realm of state decision and policy making in education, elections, health care and the environment.
• Examine the administration’s use of a wide range of federal funds to pressure states to adhere to executive branch policies.
• Evaluate the flexibility available to the executive branch in deploying federal law enforcement agents.
• Be familiar with the data on trends in the number of federal agents.
• Have a grounding in the legal framework around using federal agents.
• Be familiar with frameworks to assess democratic practices at the state level.
• Have a list of public safety and law enforcement performance metrics at the local level.