Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said she didn’t want a Cabinet position in the second Trump administration.
“I had no interest in being in his Cabinet; he knew that,” Ms. Haley said Wednesday on SiriusXM’s “Nikki Haley Live.”
She said Steve Witkoff, whom Donald Trump recently selected as special envoy to the Middle East, showed up at her house asking for a truce between her and the president-elect.
“I told him at the time there was no truce needed, that Trump had my support, there [were] no issues on my end,” she said, adding that Mr. Witkoff asked what she wanted to do in the new White House.
“I said, ‘There’s nothing I want,’” she said. “And there wasn’t anything I wanted.”
Ms. Haley and Mr. Trump haven’t had the easiest relationship. After serving as his U.N. ambassador, she ran against him in the Republican presidential primaries this year while criticizing him.
“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” he wrote in a Truth Social post last week.
“I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” he added.
Ms. Haley responded in an X post that she was “proud to work with President Trump defending America at the United Nations.
“I wish him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years.”
Ms. Haley said on her radio show that she was asked by Mr. Trump’s transition team if she had anyone in mind to join Mr. Trump’s Cabinet, and she said he needs to “surround himself with people that are going to tell him the truth.
“I did not ask for anything for me, and I have made it clear to everyone that I was not interested in the administration.”
She shared that her husband and son asked her why she didn’t specify in her X post that she didn’t want any positions, rather than just wishing Mr. Trump well. She said she knew the “game he was playing,” and she didn’t need to play it, too.
“Do I take it personally? No. That’s who he is,” Ms. Haley said. “He can be shallow at times, and I think he’s showed that, but I don’t have to be shallow. At the end of the day, I’m very comfortable with where I am and I’m comfortable with what happened.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.