US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has quit US President Donald Trump’s Cabinet as its most high-profile female member, potentially putting her back into play as a candidate for a Republican Party struggling with women voters.
In her out-of-the-blue announcement on Tuesday, Haley, 46, pointedly tried to shut down talk that she would run for any office in 2020, including challenging Trump in his re-election bid.
However, that hardly stopped Washington from playing a new round in its favorite parlor game: Who is running for what? President, vice president and US senator were all on the table.
Photo: AFP
Those who know Haley from her days as a popular governor of South Carolina believe she is in an enviable position.
“What she’s done as UN ambassador has not only raised her own profile, which was already high, but she also raised the profile of the job and she’s left some big shoes to fill,” said Rob Godfrey, a former political aide in South Carolina.
Haley has received high marks for her UN job performance. An April poll by Quinnipiac University found that 63 percent of voters approved of her, including 55 percent of Democrats.
Haley was vague about her reasons for quitting, citing a desire to take some time off.
In her resignation letter, Haley referred to returning to the private sector.
Few people who have watched her over the years see her leaving the public arena for long.
“The most likely explanation is she wants to put some daylight between herself and Trump in advance of running for president,” said Jordan Ragusa, a political science professor at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
Haley, who had scant experience in diplomacy before taking the UN job, now emerges as a dream candidate, one who figured out how to work with the voluble Trump without upstaging him, but would also buck her boss on issues that mattered to her.
She applauded women who come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct by men and said they should be heard, even if they were accusing Trump.
She took a tougher stance than her boss on Russia, and in the wake of a violent protest by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, she called on her staff to oppose hate, a position viewed as a contrast to Trump’s response.
Haley’s departure also stoked speculation she could replace US Senator Lindsey Graham, a possibility that Trump played down.
Talk in Washington was that should Trump replace US Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Graham after the Nov. 6 congressional elections, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster would be responsible for selecting a replacement to serve until the 2020 election.
McMaster was previously Haley’s No. 2 in the state.
Despite the fine line Haley walked with Trump, speculation quickly swirled in Washington that Trump could drop US Vice President Mike Pence as his 2020 running mate and choose Haley instead.
“Ambassador Haley has much political life ahead of her and perhaps as vice president and beyond,” said Karen Floyd, a former Republican Party chairwoman in South Carolina.
Trump suffers from a massive gender gap in his approval — a large majority of women disapprove of his job in office and Haley could be added in an effort to win over more women voters.
“I could certainly see a myriad of ways in which she could strengthen the ticket,” said Claire Wofford, a political science professor at College of Charleston.
However, Republican strategist Rick Tyler called the idea of Haley replacing Pence “far-fetched.”
Tyler said Haley’s future is wide open, but doubted she would rejoin the Trump administration.
Even Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia, with whom Haley often sparred, said she would resurface in politics.
“She’s young, she’s energetic, she’s ambitious. I think that we will see her after she has this well-deserved respite that she was referring to,” Nebenzia said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese