Nikki Haley resigns as UN ambassador.
WASHINGTON >> U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is stepping down at the end of the year, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday as Haley sat by his side in the Oval Office.
Trump praised the work of the former governor of South Carolina, who was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations shortly after Trump’s inauguration last year.
“She’s done a fantastic job, and we’ve done a fantastic job together,” Trump said, adding that Haley has been “very special to me.”
Trump said Haley first told him about six months ago that she would like to “take a little time off” at the end of this year. Nevertheless, the announcement surprised many in the Trump administration.
In her resignation letter, Haley praised the president for keeping a commitment to her that she would be “free to speak my mind on the issues of the day.”
Haley listed what she called a series of successes at the United Nations, including that “we spoke out resolutely against dictatorships in Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and yes, Russia.”
Haley told the president that her resignation would be effective in January 2019 to “give you time to select a replacement and to give the Senate time to consider your selection.”
“I expect to continue to speak out from time to time on important public policy matters, but I will surely not be a candidate for any office in 2020.”
Haley, seen in South Carolina and Washington circles as sharpelbowed
and ambitious, had taken particular pride in keeping distance from the daily drama of the White House.
Some of Trump’s political advisers have viewed her warily as a potential threat in 2020 and a skeptic of the Trump agenda, spurring her to say in her resignation announcement that she would not be running for office.
She was frustrated to be left out of some key debates earlier this year, administration officials said, and was not seen as part of Trump’s inner circle.
Trump told reporters that he is hopeful Haley will return to the administration at some point, perhaps in a different capacity.
Speaking after him, Haley said serving as U.N. ambassador has been “an honor of a lifetime.”
“I’m such a lucky girl to have been able to lead the state that raised me and to serve a country I love so very much has really been a blessing, and I want to thank you for that,” she told Trump.
Trump said he hopes to name a successor to Haley in the next two to three weeks.
“We have a number of people who would like to do it,” Trump said, adding that the position has become “more glamorous” in the time it was held by Haley.
Tuesday’s announcement prompted widespread praise of Haley’s tenure from fellow Republicans, but some lawmakers expressed concerns about the timing.
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the White House to immediately name a successor.
“Today’s announcement that Ambassador Haley is resigning is yet another sign of the Trump Administration’s chaotic foreign policy,” he said in a statement. “I am deeply concerned about the leadership vacuum she leaves and the national security impact of her departure at this time of continued disarray for this Administration.”