Haley squares up to Trump as his first Republican rival breaks cover
NIKKI HALEY, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, is poised to become the first Republican to challenge her old boss Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
Ms Haley, 51, plans to declare her White House bid in her home state of South Carolina on Feb 15, according to her campaign aides.
She is expected to release details about her declaration in an invitation to supporters in the coming days. It would make her the first Republican to declare a challenge to the former president, who launched his comeback bid last November.
A host of other Republican rivals are expected to mount bids in the months ahead, including Florida governor Ron Desantis.
Ms Haley, who served as South Carolina’s governor before becoming Mr Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, previously ruled out challenging her former boss. Ms Haley said in 2021: “I would not run if President Trump ran, and I would talk to him about it.”
The former governor has since walked back those comments, calling for a new generation of leadership.
She told Fox News last month: “So do I think I could be that leader? Yes, But
we are still working through things and we’ll figure it out. I’ve never lost a race. I said that then, I still say that now. “I’m not going to lose now”.
As Mr Trump kicked off his own 2024 campaign trail appearances over the weekend, he told reporters he had discussed Ms Haley’s bid with her.
He told reporters: “She called me and said she’d consider it and I said you should do it.”
A crowded candidate field favours Mr Trump in the Republicans primary, which is essentially a winner-take-all system.
Mr Trump remains the frontrunner in a number of polls, although some surveys show Mr Desantis holding a narrow lead.
If she were to win the nomination, Ms Haley, the daughter of two Indian immigrants, would be the first woman at the top of the Republican ticket in history, as well as the party’s first non-white nominee.
She is a longtime foreign policy hawk, serving Mr Trump at the United Nations as his administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, and a staunch defender of Israel. Among her major challenges will be her approach to Mr Trump, and his disproven claim of a fraudulent 2020 election.