Nikki Haley was offered Secretary of States job and turned it down
Nikki Haley demanded ‘policy freedom’ from Trump and as UN Ambassador it seems she has got it.
The highly controversial US Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley has stated that prior to Donald Trump taking office, he offered her the position of Secretary of State, the American equivalent of Foreign Minister, but she declined.
According to Haley,
“I’m very aware of when things are right and when they are not. I just thought he could find someone better”.
The man who eventually got the position was Rex Tillerson. Tillerson continues to serve as Secretary of State, although many have speculated that he is not happy with the way things work in Washington.
This did not stop Haley from making further demands on Donald Trump when offered the position of Ambassador to the United Nations.
According to CNN, with whom Haley spoke extensively,
“First, she told Trump she wanted to be a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council, privileges enjoyed by her predecessors in the Obama administration. Perhaps most importantly, she wanted the latitude to be herself, to say what she wanted”.
Haley who has no previous foreign policy experience felt that she would never be granted the powers she demanded, but when Trump agreed, she took the position.
Haley recounted the story in the following way,
“I said ‘I am a policy girl, I want to be part of the decision-making process’. He said, ‘done.’ And I said, ‘I don’t want to be a wallflower or a talking head. I want to be able to speak my mind”.
Some of Haley’s most infamous policy positions include
Nikki Haley has incrasingly been at odds not only with responsible global opinion but with many of Trump’s own supporters. Her neo-con idology is seen as out of touch with the so-called Bannonite thinking which remains popular among supporters of the US President.