Peter Marvin Alexander (born July 29, 1976) is an American journalist and television presenter who works for MS NOW. He previously worked at NBC News as White House correspondent covering the White House and the President of the United States from December 2012 to March 2026.
In October 2018, he was named co-anchor of Today for Saturday editions. His reports appear across all platforms of NBC News, including NBC Nightly News, Today, Meet the Press, NBC News Now, Dateline NBC, and NBCNews.com. He shared duties alongside Kristen Welker as the network's co-chief White House correspondent starting in January 2021. After Welker became the moderator of Meet the Press, Alexander became the sole chief White House correspondent for NBC News (and MSNBC until it became part of separate company Versant in November 2025).
Alexander was born to a Jewish family in Oakland, California, the son of Terry (née Pink) and David Alexander, an attorney. Alexander's parents are divorced. He has a younger sister, psychotherapist Rebecca Alexander, who has Usher syndrome type III. She is a psychotherapist living in New York City.
Alexander graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a Bachelor's degree in journalism in 1998.
On April 21, 2012, Alexander married Alison Starling, who was an anchor at WJLA-TV (Washington, D.C.'s ABC affiliate). The couple has two children and lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C.
From 1997 to 2004, Alexander grew his career at various local stations, notably WKYT (CBS 27) in Lexington, Kentucky, KHQ (NBC 6) in Spokane, Washington, and finally as an anchor and reporter at KCPQ (Fox 6) in Seattle, Washington.
In 2004, Alexander moved to NBC News, where he has focused on international stories, such as the 2005 Iraq elections, the death of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, and the tsunami in Indonesia. He has filed reports from Afghanistan, the Galápagos Islands, Gaza Strip, Israel, Laos, and Mexico.
Alexander's work has also included environmental reporting from the Northwest Passage in the Arctic, as well as reports on the story of his sister, Rebecca, who has Usher Syndrome, type III, a rare genetic disorder that is robbing her of her vision and her hearing.
Alexander has covered numerous breaking news events, including anchoring live coverage of the "Miracle on the Hudson" and the Virginia Tech shooting.
In 2006, Alexander was nominated for the "Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News StoryLong Form" News & Documentary Emmy Award for his participation in the NBC News Special Report: The Death of Pope John Paul II (2005) news documentary. In 2010, he reported on the international controversy surrounding WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange. In addition to his news responsibilities, Alexander has also served as an NBC Sports host and covered the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, 2010 Winter Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics, and 2026 Winter Olympics.
From 2012 to March 2014, Alexander served as a White House correspondent. He covered the Presidency of Barack Obama, traveling across the world with the president. Then, from 2014 to 2016, Alexander was based in Washington, D.C. as a national correspondent, so he frequently reported from the White House. In January 2017, Alexander was once again named White House correspondent for NBC News before being named co-Chief White House correspondent in January 2021 and then Chief White House correspondent in summer 2023.
Alexander was appointed co-anchor of the Saturday edition of Today in October 2018, replacing Craig Melvin, who left his role as co-host of the Saturday morning version of Today to join the weekday edition as its news anchor. Alexander continued his role as a White House correspondent while anchoring Today on Saturdays. Additionally, he often filled in across the first three hours of Today during the week. On March 28, 2026, he announced that he was departing to spend more time with his family.
Following his exit from NBC News, it was reported that Alexander was in talks to join MS NOW (formerly MSNBC and a sister network to NBC News prior to its spin-off from NBCUniversal), and to anchor its 11 a.m. hour on weekdays. On March 30, 2026, it was confirmed that Alexander would join the network as breaking news anchor and chief national reporter in addition to hosting its 11 a.m. hour.
On March 20, 2020, Alexander attended a live White House briefing held on steps the federal and state governments were undertaking to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. President Donald Trump stated he had a "good feeling" and was "hopeful" about the potential effectiveness against coronavirus of certain older drug therapies such as chloroquine that have been effective on other conditions. Alexander asked: President Trump answered that it was important to communicate hopeful therapies that are being investigated. Alexander further questioned the president: Trump replied:
Alexander again attracted the wrath of President Trump on 21 May 2025 when questioning him about accepting a gifted aircraft from the Qatari royal family, while Trump was hosting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Trump got angry for Alexander not addressing the alleged genocide of white South African farmers and ranted about him and NBC, calling Alexander a "terrible person" among other things. When Alexander finally asked why Ramaphosa was invited to the White House when accused of genocide, Trump brushed him off and chose a different reporter.