United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will be leaving her position at the end of the year, according to CNBC. Haley made the announcement alongside President Donald Trump on Tuesday morning, leading to the latest jolt to Trump’s national security team.
A source inside the State Department told ABC that Haley had been discussing her intention to resign before the announcement. Haley has spent the last two years advancing the Trump administration’s foreign policy initiatives including decreasing the role of the United States within the United Nations. Haley noted some of her accomplishments during her time with the administration, like nuclear discussions with North Korea and stricter policies with Iran. “Now the United States is respected,” Haley said reflecting on her time as ambassador. “Countries might not like what we do, but they respect what we do.”
Big announcement with my friend Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office at 10:30am.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2018
Trump notified the public via Twitter that the former governor of South Carolina and himself would be making a “big announcement” ten minutes before it was set to take place. The president, however, has yet to indicate who Haley’s successor will be, CNBC reported.
Known for some of her disagreements with Trump, Haley adamantly insisted that she did not write the anonymous The New York Times op-ed from a “senior Trump administration official” that went viral for it’s critiques of Trump. She even wrote a column for The Washington Post detailing how she challenged the president directly instead of hiding behind anonymity.
Haley’s departure follows the trend that many have picked up on within Trump’s administration. ABC noted that Haley is one of many to leave Trump’s team after 2 years or less.