Former US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Wednesday (Nov 13) reacted to the first time to post-election snub by President-elect Donald Trump. Trump announced over the weekend that he won’t be inviting Haley to join his second administration.
“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump wrote Saturday on his Truth Social platform.
Responding to the snub, Nikki said she was not interested in being in Trump’s cabinet and claimed that the 78-year-old GOP leader already knew about it.
“I had no interest in being in his Cabinet. He knew that,” Haley claimed, adding, “I have made it clear to everyone that I was not interested in the administration.”
While speaking at her “Nikki Haley Live” show, the former Republican presidential hopeful said her husband and son were upset over the fact that she maintained silence even after Trump made that post over the weekend. Haley had in fact responded by wishing the president-elect well for his future challenges.
“And the truth is, I know the game he was playing. I don’t need to play that game,” Haley explained.
“The American people have spoken and spoken very loudly, and at this point, we should pray that President Trump does well. We should pray that everyone that he appoints does well,” she continued. “We should hope for the sake of our kids and generations to follow us, that all of this goes forward,” Haley further said.
She added that Trump can be “shallow” and that she didn’t take his posts personally.
Haley and Trump faced off against each other in what turned out to be quite fierce primaries, with Haley sticking to the GOP race for the longest time of all. Haley then dropped out of the race, finally endorsing Trump for the GOP nomination after months.
In another major claim, Haley said a close Trump ally Steve Witkoff visited her and her husband in South Carolina, who “basically wanted a truce between me and Donald Trump.”
“And I told him at the time, there was no truce needed,” Haley said on her show, “that Trump had my support, there was no issue on my end. And at that point he was like, ‘What do you want? Tell me what you want. Is there anything you want?’ And I said, ‘There’s nothing I want.’ And there wasn’t anything I wanted.”
(With inputs from agencies)