Washington : Nikki Haley announced on Tuesday she is resigning as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the rising Republican star immediately denied she was preparing to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
Sitting beside Trump in the Oval Office, Haley said her 18-month stint at the United Nations had been “an honour of a lifetime” and said she would stay on until the end of the year.
A former governor of South Carolina who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is the highest profile woman in Trump’s Cabinet and is often seen as a possible presidential candidate.
But she said in her resignation letter to Trump she would “surely not be a candidate for any office in 2020” and would support his re-election bid.
She told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday: “No, I am not running for 2020.”
Haley said she did not have any future plans set and did not give a reason for her unexpected departure, but Trump said she had told him some six months ago that she was thinking of leaving by the end the year “to take a little time off.”
Trump later told reporters he would consider selecting former Goldman Sachs executive and White House adviser Dina Powell to replace Haley, and shot down speculation he would put his daughter Ivanka in the role.
