It’s Haley bail-y
Quitting as UN envoy amid praise from Don
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley is stepping down from her post at the end of the year, President Trump announced Tuesday in a unusually cordial Oval Office send-off.
Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, and the President showered one another with praise as they revealed the latest high-profile departure from the Trump administration.
Unlike the more unceremonious exits most parting Trump officials have received, the President pulled out all the stops for his top UN diplomat.
“She's done an incredible job. She's a fantastic person, very importantly, but she also is somebody that gets it,” Trump said as the pair sat next to each other.
“She knows everybody. On a first name basis, and they like her. Except for maybe a couple, which is normal,” he said. “They can't all like you, but they do. They really like her, and I think maybe more importantly, they respect her.”
Trump said he has not yet picked a replacement, but said prospective candidates are scrambling to fill Haley's shoes. “She's made it a glamorous position. She's made it a more important, more importantly, a more important position,” he said.
Axios first reported the President had accepted Haley's resignation, but she will stay on until the end of the year.
Haley thanked Trump and the entire First Family, name-dropping the President's son-in-law and aide Jared Kushner and First Daughter Ivanka, before calling her time as ambassador “an honor of a lifetime.”
She called Kushner a “hidden genius” for his work on NAFTA and the Middle East before labeling Ivanka Trump a “great friend” and praising the couple for doing a lot of work “behind the scenes.”
Trump later fueled speculation that he was considering nominating his eldest daughter to the post.
The President said his daughter would be “dynamite,” but acknowledged the bad optics of such a move.
“But then I would be accused of nepotism, could you believe it,” he told reporters as he left the White House for a political rally in Iowa. “Then I would be accused of nepotism, although I'm not sure there's anyone more competent in the world.”
Trump also said he's considering Dina Powell, his former deputy national security adviser, for the position.
Haley saved her biggest praise for the President himself, applauding his role as world leader.
“Now the United States is respected,” she said. “Countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do. They know that if we say we're going to do something, we follow it through.”
The Oval Office love-fest was a far cry from other less amicable exits that have plagued Trump's time in office. The President has often tweeted out senior administration shake-ups and seen a string of officials step down amid clouds of controversy.
Major players such as former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and national security adviser H.R. McMaster have resigned amid widespread speculation that they clashed with Trump.