What we covered here
- Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, has resigned.
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Nikki Haley resigns
Updates
(23)Our live coverage of UN Ambassador Nikki Haley’s resignation has ended. Scroll through the posts below to read more about her resignation or visit CNN Politics.
Mattis: Haley has been a "wonderful representative for our country"
Secretary of Defense James Mattis just sent a statement on Haley’s resignation:
Sources: Ivanka laughed when she heard speculation that she would replace Haley
A source familiar with discussions says Ivanka Trump laughed this morning when she heard about the speculation that she would replace Ambassador Haley.
The same source said there are internal discussions underway as to where Haley is headed next.
One scenario that was discussed as Jeff suggested is that Graham would replace Sessions as AG and Haley could be appointed to finish Graham’s term. Though the source said it was just internal speculation inside the west wing.
History will remember Haley as key player in Trump admin campaign to "undermine universal human rights," ACLU says
Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program, issued the following comment in the wake of UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announcing her resignation:
UN Secretary General spokesperson hails "strong working relationship" with Nikki Haley
The United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) “wishes to express his deep appreciation for the excellent cooperation and support that Nikki Haley has always demonstrated,” Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the UNSG said at the ongoing daily briefing in New York, adding that they had a “productive” and “strong working relationship,” during her tenure.
The Secretary General looks forward to working with Ambassador Haley until the end of her tenure and with her replacement, he said.
Read Nikki Haley's resignation letter
Dear Mr. President:
It has been an immense honor to serve our country in your Administration. I cannot thank you enough for giving me this opportunity.
You will recall that when you offered me the position of United States Ambassador to the United Nations in November 2016, I accepted the offer based on some conditions. Those conditions included serving in your Cabinet and on the National Security Council and being free to speak my mind on the issues of the day. You made those commitments and you have absolutely kept them all. For that too, I will always be grateful.
We achieved great successes at the UN. We passed the toughest sanctions against any country in a generation, pressuring North Korea toward denuclearization. We passed an arms embargo on South Sudan that will help reduce violence and hopefully bring peace to that troubled country. We stood up for our ally Israel and began to roll back the UN’s relentless bias against her. We reformed UN operations and saved over $1.3 billion. We spoke out resolutely against dictatorships in Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and yes, Russia. Through it all, we stood strong for American values and interests, always placing America first. I am proud of our record.
As a strong supporter of term limits, I have long believed that rotation in office benefits the public. Between the UN Ambassadorship and serving in the South Carolina Governorship and General Assembly, I have been in public office for fourteen straight years. As a businessman, I expect you will appreciate my sense that returning from government to the private sector is not a step down but a step up.
Accordingly, I am resigning my position. To give you time to select a replacement, and to give the Senate time to consider your selection, I am prepared to continue to serve until January 2019.
At that point, I will once again become a private citizen. I expect to continue to speak out from time to time on important public policy matters, but I will surely not be a candidate for any office in 2020. As a private citizen, I look forward to supporting your re-election as President, and supporting the policies that will continue to move our great country toward even greater heights.
With best wishes and deep gratitude,
Nikki Haley
There are five women left in Trump's Cabinet without Haley
Nikki Haley’s end-of-year departure from President Donald Trump’s Cabinet will set off a scramble to find her replacement.
One consideration for the White House: Haley, a former South Carolina governor with her eyes undeniably set on high office some day, was arguably the most high-profile woman in a Trump Cabinet with few women.
With Haley, there were six women in Trump’s Cabinet – 26%, a lower percentage than Barack Obama’s Cabinet, which ranged between 30% and 35%, but higher than George W. Bush, whose Cabinet had between 19% and 24%, according to data compiled by the Center for American Women in Politics at Rutgers.
If it is not a woman who replaces Haley, the percentage of women in Trump’s Cabinet would fall to 22%.
Here are the women who will remain:
- Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda E. McMahon
- Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel
- Secretary of Education Elisabeth Prince DeVos
- Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao
- Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen
Trump has list of contenders, hasn't shared it widely with senior staff
President Donald Trump has a working list of contenders to succeed Ambassador Nikki Haley, but has not shared it widely with even most senior White House officials, one senior White House official said.
Trump plans to work through it and seek advice from advisers as he works to decide on her successor in the coming weeks.
Haley told Trump last week, did not tell Pompeo or Bolton
Nikki Haley told President Trump last week about her decision, but never told Secretary of State Pompeo or White House national security adviser Bolton, according to a source familiar.
CNN’s Jim Sciutto said he’s been texting with members of congress on Capitol Hill this morning and it came as a surprise to all of them.
The real reason behind Haley's resignation may be a financial one
A source familiar tells CNN that one real consideration for Nikki Haley is a financial one. She has one child in college and another heading there soon and she felt like she needs to make some money.
Haley had lost clout with Trump in recent months
Nikki Haley had lost clout with the President in recent months, two sources familiar with their relationship have noted in wake of her resignation. When Rex Tillerson was still secretary of state, Trump sought out Haley’s advice often. She was regularly seen in the Oval Office.
But now that Mike Pompeo is in that role, and with John Bolton as the national security adviser, Haley has seen her time with the president diminish.
She had been sidelined on big policy decision in recent months, too. Let’s not forget the big sanctions flap back in April, when she announced on a Sunday show that the U.S. would be imposing fresh sanctions on Russia in the coming weeks.
Trump, watching from the residence of the White House, flipped when he heard this. That led to Larry Kudlow saying she had been momentarily confused, to which Haley shot back, “I don’t get confused.”
Pence tweet: "She will be missed"
Lindsey Graham not interested in ambassador role, aide says
Senator Lindsey Graham has no interest in a Cabinet spot, and aide tells CNN.
Lindsey Graham is not interested in a Cabinet spot despite rumors that President Trump may try to install him after the shakeup caused by Nikki Haley’s announcement, a Graham aide said.
This Haley resignation announcement was not coordinated with Graham and the timing caught the South Carolina Republican by surprise, aide said. Graham is planning on running for reelection in 2020, he told South Carolina reporters over the weekend.
Top Republicans on Capitol Hill also were surprised by the timing, two aides said.
Trump says "many people" want the UN job
President Donald Trump said he believes Amb. Nikki Haley has helped make the position of UN ambassador “more glamorous” and “more important” and said that “many people” want to succeed her in the post.
“I think she’s helped make it a much better position…She’s made it a more glamorous position, she’s made it, more importantly, a more important position,” Trump said.
“We have many people that are very, very much interested in doing that.”
Trump said he plans to discuss potential candidates with haley and with “the general” – likely a reference to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis or White House chief of staff John Kelly.
Haley: "I'm not running for 2020"
Nikki Haley assured the press – and President Trump – that she would not run for president in 2020.
“I will say this. For all of you that are going to ask about 2020, no, I’m not running for 2020,” Haley said. “I can promise you what I’ll be doing is campaigning for this one. So I look forward to supporting the president in the next election.”
Trump smiled and said, “That’s so good. Thank you Nikki.”
Haley on ambassador job: "It has been an honor of a lifetime"
Speaking next to President Trump in the Oval Office, Nikki Haley described her job as US ambassador to the United Nations as the “honor of a lifetime.”
She praised Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump – “I can’t say enough good things about Jared and Ivanka. Jared is such a hidden genius that no one understands” – and said it was a “great day in the United States.”
“I’m not leaving until the end of the year,” Haley said. Until then, her focus is to “make sure that everything is in good place and for the next ambassador to come in.”
Trump on Haley: She "has been very special to me. She's done an incredible job"
President Trump praised outgoing US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, who is resigning.
Haley “has been very special to me. She’s done an incredible job,” Trump said. “She’s a fantastic person, very importantly, but she also is somebody that gets it.”
He said Haley told him six months ago that she wanted to “take a break” after two years in the job.
“We hate to lose you,” Trump said. “Hopefully you’ll be coming back at some point. But maybe in a different capacity. You can have your pick.”
Now: Trump and Haley meet in Oval Office
Haley told her staff it was time to move on this morning
A senior diplomatic source connected to the UN tells CNN that Haley told her staff this morning that she said has done her two years and it is time to move on.
Haley took the job under one condition: She wanted to be able to speak her mind
The former South Carolina governor was tapped as ambassador to the UN following Trump’s election win despite supporting Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in her state’s all-important 2016 presidential primary and later backing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
When asked if she would take the job by then-chief of staff Reince Priebus, Haley was intrigued but had some conditions.
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.
And I said, ‘I don’t want to be a wallflower or a talking head. I want to be able to speak my mind.’ He said, ‘That is why I asked you to do this.’ In all honesty, I didn’t think they were going to take me up on everything I asked for. And they gave me all that. So how do you turn that down?”
During her more than a year-and-a-half on the job, she has repeatedly spoken her mind, whether it’s going further on human rights than many of her administration colleagues or denouncing racism at home.
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