U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley dismissed concerns over the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey, saying it’s the prerogative of the president to surround himself with subordinates he can trust.
“What I can tell you is the president is the CEO of the country. He can hire or fire whoever he wants. That’s his right,” Mrs. Haley said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “Whether you agree with it or not, it’s the truth.”
“Were there better ways he could have done that? That’s for everybody else to decide,” she said. “But we have to remember, he can hire and fire anybody he wants.”
President Trump has been criticized for firing Mr. Comey during the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential race.
Mrs. Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, said some people are uncomfortable with Mr. Trump because he’s a “president of action.”
“He is not one that’s going to sit there and talk for too long,” she said. “If he sees something wrong, he’s going to deal with it. And I think that the reason people are uncomfortable is because he acts. He doesn’t talk with a bunch of people about it before, he just acts.”
“But at the end of the day, the president has to surround himself with a team that he can trust,” she said. “He’s going to surround himself with a team that he thinks is going to represent and secure the United States properly. I think that’s what he’s trying to do.”
• Bradford Richardson can be reached at brichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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