Alayna Treene

Reporter

Alayna Treene is a CNN reporter covering presidential politics heading into the 2024 election season.
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1418603 CNN Expansion D.C. 2023 - May 24-26, 2023 - Washington, D.C., Alayna Treene
1418603 CNN Expansion D.C. 2023 - May 24-26, 2023 - Washington, D.C., Alayna Treene
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This photo posted to X.com by the state news agency of Saudi Arabia shows Sen. Lindsey Graham meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on April 11, 2023.
From Saudi Press Agency/X.com
Trump looms large over Biden’s long-shot talks on Israel-Saudi normalization
Apr 24, 2024
When South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was in Saudi Arabia late last month meeting with Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the country’s young, defacto ruler, the two decided to call up a mutual acquaintance— Donald Trump.
Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom at his criminal trial at Manhattan state court in New York, Monday, April 22, 2024. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Brendan McDermid/Pool/AP
Trump meets with foreign leaders looking to boost their relationships with GOP leader ahead of election
Apr 24, 2024
Donald Trump no longer commands the trappings of White House state dinners to host foreign dignitaries or the flight itinerary of Air Force One to meet them abroad, but that hasn’t stopped the former president from huddling with world leaders eager to bolster their relationship with the presumptive Republican nominee amid another close presidential election campaign.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso speaks at a forum in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 8, 2023.
Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters/FILE
Trump to meet with former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso at Trump Tower on Tuesday
Apr 23, 2024
Donald Trump will meet with former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso, the deputy head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, two campaign officials told CNN.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump during a joint press conference with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) at Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on April 12, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. They spoke about "election integrity," which has been one of the former president's top issues.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Top Trump surrogates and VP contenders hit airwaves in defense of former president on trial
Apr 16, 2024
Donald Trump’s campaign is deploying his top surrogates, including potential vice presidential picks, to span the airwaves in what they are characterizing as a full-fledged media defense of the former president, as he confronts a historic criminal trial in New York City, his advisers told CNN.
Former President Donald Trump greets supporters at a campaign rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, on April 13, 2024.
Joe Lamberti/AP
Trump endorses Dave McCormick for Senate in Pennsylvania
Apr 14, 2024
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday endorsed the Senate campaign of Republican Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania after initially being reluctant to endorse the former hedge fund executive who is challenging Democrat Bob Casey in a critical Senate battleground.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Rome, Georgia, on March 9.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump heads for campaign rally in Pennsylvania, where down-ballot drama awaits
Apr 13, 2024
Donald Trump returns to Pennsylvania for a campaign rally that will be notable for who won’t be there – the expected Republican nominee for Senate, Dave McCormick.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to guests at a rally on April 02, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Trump will juggle appearances in courtroom and on campaign trail as hush money trial begins
Apr 13, 2024
Former President Donald Trump’s appearance in a New York courthouse Monday for jury selection in his criminal hush money trial will kick off a weekslong juggling act between the courtroom and the campaign trail during a crucial period for his general election bid.
Kari Lake addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, on February 24.
Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters/File
Kari Lake lobbies Arizona lawmakers to overturn abortion ban she once supported
Apr 11, 2024
Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake is actively lobbying state lawmakers to overturn a 160-year-old law she once supported that bans abortion in almost all cases, a source with knowledge of her efforts told CNN.
Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden (R) and US President Donald Trump take part in the first presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 29, 2020.
Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Trump campaign calls for earlier and more presidential debates
Apr 11, 2024
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign sent a letter Thursday to the Commission on Presidential Debates asking for this year’s general election debates to take place “much earlier” and calling for more of them to be added to the schedule.
Former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives for a GOP fundraiser, Saturday, April 6, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Lynne Sladky/AP
Trump campaign announces record $50.5 million haul at Florida fundraiser
Apr 7, 2024
Donald Trump’s campaign said it raised $50.5 million at a Saturday fundraiser in Florida, a staggering sum as the former president’s political operation scrambles to close its big financial gap with President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party.
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 02: Former President Donald Trump speaks to guests at a rally on April 02, 2024 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. At the rally, Trump spoke next to an empty lectern on the stage and challenged President Joe Biden to debate him. The Wisconsin primary is being held today. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Scott Olsen/Getty Images
Behind Trump’s latest abortion tease: weeks of waffling, pressure and quiet preparations
Apr 4, 2024
Donald Trump made an unexpected declaration Tuesday when probed about a six-week abortion ban that will soon take effect in his home state of Florida.
President Joe Biden speaks at the Chavis community center on March 26, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Eros Hoagland/Getty Images
With abortion on the ballot, Biden and Democrats give Florida another look
Apr 2, 2024
A pair of state Supreme Court rulings on Monday – one paving the way for a six-week abortion ban in Florida, the other giving Floridians a chance in November to enshrine abortion access in the state’s constitution – has delivered a burst of Democratic optimism that this once-purple battleground could flip blue again.
Former President Donald Trump attends an awards ceremony at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 24, 2024.
Marco Bello/REUTERS/REUTERS
Trump turns attention to Michigan and Wisconsin, the ‘blue wall’ states he won, then lost
Apr 2, 2024
Donald Trump will return to the campaign trail on Tuesday with events in Michigan and Wisconsin, two critical Midwest battlegrounds that he won eight years ago but that have mostly vexed Republicans ever since.
Newly-elected Chairman Michael Whatley, left, and Co-Chair Lara Trump, right, greet attendees as they crowd the podium after the general session of the Republican National Committee Spring Meeting Friday, March 8, 2024, in Houston.
Michael Wyke/AP
People seeking employment at RNC asked whether they believe the 2020 election was stolen
Mar 29, 2024
People seeking employment at the Republican National Committee have been asked in recent job interviews whether they believe the 2020 election was stolen, according to two sources familiar with the questioning.
Drew McKissick, chair of the South Carolina Republican Party, during the Republican National Committee spring meeting in Houston, Texas, on Friday, March 8.
Callaghan O'Hare/Bloomberg/Getty Images
RNC officials deny ‘litmus test’ related to 2020 election for those seeking employment
Mar 29, 2024
Top officials at the Republican National Committee are denying reports that there is a “litmus test” for current and potential staffers related to whether they believe the 2020 election was stolen.
Clockwise from top left: Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, Kristi Noem and JD Vance.
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Trump’s vice presidential shortlist is very long — and in flux
Mar 22, 2024
Donald Trump is floating names, including Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, JD Vance and Kristi Noem, as he weighs potential 2024 running mates.

About

Alayna Treene is a CNN reporter covering presidential politics heading into the 2024 election season.

Treene previously worked as a congressional reporter at Axios covering Capitol Hill, the Biden administration and elections. She also co-authored the platform’s top political newsletter, “Axios Sneak Peek,” a nightly lookahead with the best scoops from both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. She has interviewed several political leaders for Axios on HBO and been featured on a variety of outlets including CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Fox News and more.

Treene’s extensive news background began as an intern at CBS News, Variety, NBC News, and Bloomberg. She joined Axios as a staff reporter in 2016, and was eventually appointed White House reporter covering the Trump administration where she led impeachment inquiry coverage and broke news on a series of private conversations and investigative plans including the subpoenas of Donald Trump Jr. over Russia matters and then-acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. She also led coverage of the January 6th Committee Hearings, as well as closely covered the House and Senate during the Biden administration.

Treene is a George Washington University graduate and will be based in Washington, DC.