UNITED NATIONS: One year into the job, Nikki Haley stands out as the starof President Donald Trump’s administration, and diplomats say the UNambassador is directing some of that star power into a likely White Housebid.
Speculation about Haley’s presidential ambitious has picked up since shedefended Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital,staring down friends and foes alike at the world body.
The 45-year-old Republican resorted to a veto to block criticism from theUN Security Council and threatened reprisals against those who votedagainst Washington at the General Assembly.
The clash gave UN ambassadors a reality check: Haley, they say, is apolitician, not a diplomat, and at the United Nations, she is playing to adomestic audience.
“She is not trying to win votes at the General Assembly. She is trying towin votes for 2020 or 2024,” a council diplomat said. “She is clearly usingthis position to run for something, that’s obvious.”
The former South Carolina governor arrived at the United Nations last year,promising a “new day” under Trump’s America First policy and vowing to“take names” of countries that don’t toe the line.
Seen at the outset as a foreign policy lightweight, Haley was quickly takenseriously because of her close ties to the unpredictable Trump.
Over the past year, she has pushed through three new sets of sanctionsagainst North Korea, bringing China and Russia on side to tackle what Trumpsees as his administration’s number one security threat.
Those sanctions won the unanimous backing of the council, where findingcommon ground with Haley is testing diplomatic skills.
The daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is hawkish on Iran, fiercelypro-Israel and a strong advocate of cost-cutting at the United Nations.
That those three signature issues play well with the US Republican voterbase is not lost on most diplomats.
“What matters above all are perceptions internally, in the US,” saidanother council diplomat, who like many declined to be quoted.
Haley was among the first administration officials to take a hard line onRussia, declaring that sanctions over Crimea would remain in place untilMoscow gave the territory back to Ukraine.
Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko, who just wrapped up a two-yearstint at the Security Council, says Haley is doing an “excellent job.”
“She may be less diplomatic sometimes than some could expect, but this ismore an asset than a shortcoming,” he said.
For months, Haley had been tipped as a possible replacement to US Secretaryof State Rex Tillerson, whom she has upstaged with her media appearancesand statements that at times appear to break new ground.
In October, she put that speculation to rest, telling reporters that shewasn’t interested.
“I would not take it,” Haley told reporters on a trip to the DemocraticRepublic of Congo. “I want to be where I’m most effective.”
She is seen as a possible vice president to Mike Pence, should he take overthe presidency.
Author Michael Wolff, whose book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump WhiteHouse” has become a national sensation, claims Haley has set her sightshigher and is eyeing the presidency.
According to published excerpts, Haley began positioning herself as Trump’sheir after concluding in October that he was a one-term president.
Wolff quoted a senior White House staffer who described her “as ambitiousas Lucifer” and another who offered the view that while being groomed byTrump, “she is so much smarter than him.”
Haley has brushed aside questions about her political ambitious, saying sheis focused on the job at hand as she remains firmly in the limelight as theUN’s most-watched ambassador.