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Nikki Haley chosen as US ambassador to United Nations Nikki Haley chosen as US ambassador to United Nations
(about 2 hours later)
Donald Trump has chosen South Carolina governor Nikki Haley as US ambassador to the United Nations, the first woman tapped for a top-level administration post during his White House transition so far. Donald Trump has chosen the South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, as US ambassador to the United Nations, the first woman tapped for a top-level administration post during his White House transition so far.
In a statement, the president-elect said that Haley is “a proven dealmaker and we look forward to making plenty of deals”, adding that the South Carolina governor “will be a great leader representing us on the world stage”.In a statement, the president-elect said that Haley is “a proven dealmaker and we look forward to making plenty of deals”, adding that the South Carolina governor “will be a great leader representing us on the world stage”.
An outspoken Trump critic throughout much of the presidential race, Haley would become Trump’s first female – and first non-white – cabinet-level official if the appointment is confirmed by the Senate. An outspoken Trump critic throughout much of the presidential race, Haley would become Trump’s first female – and first non-white – cabinet-level official if the appointment is confirmed by the Senate. Critics, however, are likely to seize on her lack of foreign policy experience.
Two sources familiar with the decision told the Associated Press the ambassadorship would be a cabinet-level position, which is at the discretion of the president. Haley, 44, accepted the offer, saying in a statement: “Our country faces enormous challenges here at home and internationally, and I am honoured that the president-elect has asked me to join his team and serve the country we love as the next ambassador to the United Nations.”
Haley met the president-elect last week and said they had a “very nice” conversation. She had initially campaigned for Marco Rubio and then Ted Cruz in the Republican primary. She said she will “be forever grateful” that South Carolinians “took a chance on a little-known, 38-year old, minority, female governor”.
Two sources familiar with the decision told the Associated Press the ambassadorship would be a cabinet-level position, which is at the discretion of the president. She will succeed Samantha Power.
Haley had initially campaigned for Marco Rubio and then Ted Cruz in the Republican primary. Trump tweeted in March: “The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!” Haley denounced several of Trump’s campaign comments and urged voters to “reject the siren call of the angriest voices” but she did eventually vote for him.
Lindsey Graham, a senator for South Carolina and another longtime Trump adversary, praised Haley as “a strong leader” who will be an “outstanding ambassador” to the UN and a “strong supporter” of Israel.
“As Governor of South Carolina she has recruited and dealt with some of the largest international business firms in the world,” he said. “Her husband was a member of the South Carolina national guard who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan.”
Graham added: “Governor Haley and her family fully understand what is at stake in the war against radical Islam. I know she will be a valuable ally to President-elect Trump as our nation tries to re-engage the world and lead from the front, not behind.”
Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, said: “Governor Nikki Haley is a brilliant choice to serve as our country’s ambassador to the United Nations. Governor Haley is hard-working, smart, and has a strong world view that will represent the United States well on the global stage.”
Haley, who met Trump last week, has a track record of taking on and beating a Republican party establishment dominated by white men. She was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina, to Sikh parents who emigrated from India. Haley has told how her brother was teased at first for not cutting his hair, in line with Sikh tradition, and Haley and her sister were disqualified from a local junior pageant because the judges were “flummoxed” by their ethnicity, she told the New York Times in 2010.
“It’s survival mode,” Haley said. “You learn to try and show people how you’re more alike than you are different.”
Her father worked as a biology professor and her mother created a clothing business, where Haley began keeping books at the age of 13. She studied accounting at Clemson University, where she met her husband, Michael Haley, an army national guard captain who served in Afghanistan in 2013.
They married in 1996 in two ceremonies, one Sikh and one Methodist, although Haley has said she converted to Christianity before her wedding and that both her children were baptised in a Methodist church.
When she first ran for office in 2004, her opponent’s campaign referred to her in newspaper ads by her birth name in an attempt to cast her as an outsider, but she won both a run-off and the general election. When Haley announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor in 2009, she again faced prejudice.
One state senator told a talkshow: “We already got one raghead in the White House. We don’t need another in the governor’s mansion,” while an ad campaign also questioned her faith. But in November 2010, Haley became the first woman and first minority governor elected in South Carolina.
Her tenure has been hit by controversies and tragedy. In June 2015, a 21-year-old white man shot and killed nine African Americans, including a reverend and state senator, at a historically black church in Charleston. Authorities have accused him of holding white supremacist views, saying he targeted the victims because of their race. Within 48 hours, Haley announced that the Confederate flag, a symbol of the pro-slavery south in the civil war, should be removed from the South Carolina statehouse grounds.
Some Trump supporters have tried to revive use of the flag as a symbol of defiance during this year’s divisive election campaign.
Trump is spending Thanksgiving with his family at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.Trump is spending Thanksgiving with his family at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
Haley’s new job clears the way for Lt Gov Henry McMaster to step into the role of South Carolina governor. McMaster was an early Trump endorser, backing him before the state’s Republican primary in February.Haley’s new job clears the way for Lt Gov Henry McMaster to step into the role of South Carolina governor. McMaster was an early Trump endorser, backing him before the state’s Republican primary in February.