Peter Alexander, one of the hardest working TV-news correspondents in the sector, will leave his longtime home at NBC News, he announced to viewers Saturday morning during a weekend telecast of “Today.”
Alexander has for years shouldered the logistical challenge of co-anchoring the Saturday broadcast of “Today” and serving as NBC News’ chief White House correspondent. Those duties often have him working sources in Washington during the week, then traveling up to New York City for “Today” duties. Overall, he has logged 15 years on the White House beat and worked “Today” weekends since 2018.
“Peter has been a trusted presence with great range across NBC News, and a friend to so many across the Washington Bureau, ‘Today’ and the broader NBC News team,” said Chloe Arensberg, NBC News’ Washington Bureau Chief, and Matt Carluccio, executive producer of weekend broadcasts of “Today,” in a memo to staffers on Saturday. “We are grateful for all his contributions and wish him the best.” During an emotional segment Saturday, Alexander cited an interest in being around more for his two young children, after missing more than 200 Friday nights to prepare for his weekend role.
Alexander declined to specify where he might be working next, but MS NOW has an open anchor slot for its 11 a.m. hour on weekdays. The Versant-backed network, once a corporate sibling to NBC News, recently overhauled its daytime schedule, but declined to name a host for its 11 a.m. position, noting that details would surface at a later date.
Alexander has gained notice for asking reasonable questions of President Trump that for some reason spark blowback. During 2020’s coronavirus pandemic, for example, Alexander asked Trump, then in his first term in the Oval Office, “What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?” Trump lashed out. “I say that you’re a terrible reporter!” he retorted.
The journalist told Variety in 2022 that he’s had to work at a pretty rapid pace across different administrations. During the first Trump White House, he felt like he was whiplashed by “a 24-hour news cycle every 24 minutes.” Under President Biden, the White House correspondent still had a lot to digest. One early Biden initiative came with a 45-minute background call for reporters. “I could have given you 25 pages on it,” Alexander recalled.
Alexander initially joined NBC News in 2004, covering a range of stories around the globe and in the U.S. He was assigned to cover the Republican presidential race in 2012 before being named a White House correspondent that year. After a stint as a national correspondent between 2014 and 2016, Alexander returned to the White House beat in 2017, then was named co-chief White House correspondent alongside Kristen Welker. He kept those duties when he was named co-anchor of Saturday “Today” and became the network’s sole chief White House correspondent when Welker was elevated to moderator of “Meet the Press.”
Alexander has in recent months expressed a desire for new challenges, according to two people familiar with the matter, but with Welker faring well at “Meet the Press” and Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin ensconced at “Today” and Tom Llamas at “NBC Nightly News,” there were not many larger positions for which he could be considered.
Other TV-news personnel have made similar moves. Llamas, then the weekend anchor of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” left ABC News in January of 2021, largely due to the fact that David Muir was firmly in command of weekday anchor duties at the evening-news program. Llamas moved to NBC News and eventually succeeded Lester Holt at “Nightly.”
While MS NOW recently awarded new two-hour daytime shifts to Stephanie Ruhle and Alicia Menendez, the network has a long history of offering a one-hour program tied to events in Washington, D.C. Andrea Mitchell hosted such a show when the network was called MSNBC for nearly two decades.
NBC News expects to rely on various staffers to fill Alexander’s roles for an interim period.
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