It didn’t bother Nikki Haley when President-elect Donald Trump announced he would “not be inviting” her to join his new administration.
The former United Nations ambassador apparently didn’t want a job there anyway.
According to a report in IJR, Trump announced both Haley and Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State and CIA director, will not be part of his new administration when he takes office Jan. 20
Haley responded to Trump’s announcement with a post on X, formerly Twitter.
“I was proud to work with President Trump defending America at the United Nations,” Haley wrote. “I wish him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years.”
Haley went further in her SiriusXM show, “Nikki Haley Live,” stating she did not want or sought a job in Trump’s new administration.
“I had no interest in being in his cabinet. He knew that,” Haley said.
“But to go a little further, his best friend, Steve Witkoff, came to our house in South Carolina, spoke to me and my husband, and basically wanted a truce between me and Donald Trump,” Haley said. “And I told him at the time, there was no truce needed, that I had, that Trump had my support, there was no issue on my end.”
She continued by stating Witkoff asked her, “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. And then several weeks back I talked to Howard Lutnick, his transition director, and he asked, you know, if I knew of people that would be good in the cabinet, if there was any insight,” Haley said. “And what I said is, I think it’s really important that Trump surround himself with people that are going to tell him the truth.”
Haley suggested a person for Commerce secretary, but did not seek a post for herself.
“And I, you know, mentioned someone that I thought would be good for Commerce Secretary and mentioned that I thought the UN Ambassador should be a cabinet pick. But I did not ask anything for me. And I have made it clear to everyone that I was not interested in the administration,” she added.
Haley also said Trump’s announcement regarding her not going to Washington with him was not all that surprising.
“And the truth is, I know the game he was playing. I don’t need to play that game,” she said.
In the end, she added, it is time to focus attention on America.
“But more importantly, we have to look at the bigger picture. It is time to move on. It is time for us to focus on what America needs to do to be strong again, what America needs to do to be safe,” she said. “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.”
“We should hope for the sake of our kids and generations to follow us, that all of this goes forward. So, you know, do I take it personally? No. That’s who he is. He can be shallow at times and I think he showed that. But I don’t have to be shallow. And at the end of the day, I’m very comfortable with where I am, and I’m comfortable with what happened,” she added.
