WASHINGTON: Nikki Haley, the United States Ambassador to the UnitedNations, may be considering a White House run in 2020 when Donald Trump’sfirst term as President comes to an end.
If Michael Wolff’s book Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House is tobe believed, the Indian-American ex-governor of South Carolina believesthat Trump will, at best, be a one-term President and she sees herself asthe natural heir to the Trump administration.
Many in Trump’s inner circle have described Haley to be “as ambitious asLucifer”, while a top Trump aide said she was “so much smarter” than Trumphimself.
Haley, the first woman to hold the office of Governor of South Carolina,supported Florida Senator Marco Rubio over Donald Trump in the RepublicanParty’s primary race for President.
However, she was quick to move to the Trump camp after he clinched thenomination. She is said to have befriended Trump’s daughter Ivanka, whichgave her access to the Trump family’s inner circle.
According to Wolff, Haley is said to have been groomed by the president ina “notable amount of private time” on Air Force One.
According to the book, Trump even considered appointing her as theSecretary of State before finally appointing her as US Ambassador to theUN, describing her as a “proven dealmaker”.
A “moderate” Republican, Haley is seen as a threat to the Trump Presidencyby some of the more hardline elements within the establishment. That is,perhaps, why, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who is accused of being aWhite Supremacist by critics, is said to have pushed back against Haleywhen Trump was considering her name for Secretary of State.