Why do I get a NullPointerException here?

public class Forum {
  private String topic;

  // TODO: add a constructor that accepts a topic and sets the private field topic

  public String getTopic() {
    return topic;
  }

  public Forum(String topic){
    topic = this.topic;
  }

  public void addPost(ForumPost post) {
    System.out.printf("A new post in %s topic from %s %s about %s is available",
            topic,
            post.getAuthor().getFirstName(),
            post.getAuthor().getLastName(),
            post.getTitle()
    );
  }


}

public class User {
  // TODO: add private fields for firstName and lastName
  private String firstName;
  private String lastName;

  public User(String firstName, String lastName) {
    // TODO: set and add the private fields
    firstName = this.firstName;
    lastName = this.lastName; 
  }

  public String getFirstName(){
    return firstName;
  }

  public String getLastName(){
    return lastName;
  }

  // TODO: add getters for firstName and lastName

}

public class ForumPost {
  private User author;
  private String title;
  private String description;

  // TODO: add a constructor that accepts the author, title and description
  public ForumPost(User author, String title, String description){
    author = this.author;
    title = this.title;
    description = this.description;

  }

  public User getAuthor() {
    return author;
  }

  public String getTitle() {
    return title;
  }

  public String getDescription() {
    return description;
  }
}

public class Main {

  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println("Beginning forum example");
    if (args.length < 2) {
      System.out.println("Usage: java Main <first name> <last name>");
      System.err.println("<first name> and <last name> are required");
      System.exit(1);
    }
    Forum forum = new Forum("Java");
    // TODO: pass in the first name and last name that are in the args parameter
    User author = new User(args[0], args[1]);
    // TODO: initialize the forum post with the user created above and a title and description of your choice
    ForumPost post = new ForumPost(author, "title", "description");
    forum.addPost(post);
  }

}