Nikki Haley Out As United Nations Ambassador

Former South Carolina Governor and united States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has tendered her resignation as ambassador.

In her letter dated October 3, 2018, Haley wrote to President Donald Trump:

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.

Haley said that she was prepared to serve in her capacity as ambassador until January 2019.

Haley denied that she was leaving for personal reasons. Instead, she says that she believes she should step aside and "make sure this administration has the strongest person to fight."

Zero Hedge also adds President Trump's remarks.

When reporters reverted to questioning Trump, the president said his administration had avoided serious foreign policy pitfalls - like the outbreak of a hot war with North Korea - that many of Trump's critics had warned would be all but inevitable should he set foot in the Oval Office.

"Look at North Korea, it was a potentially devastating problem and now it's looking very good."

Haley, Trump said, played an important role in reestablishing international respect for the US.

"We are respected again - that I can tell you. Very much respected again. Even if you look at the votes in the United Nations - where we would normally get no votes we are getting very strong votes now."

He added that the way in which Haley is leaving her position is "the right way to do it."

"It's a great position - I think she's helped make it a much better position. I think it's become a more glamorous position than it was a few years ago. She's made it a more important position. So I can say we have very many people who want to do it and they are very good people."

Trump also revealed that 'we're talking about three or four different locations' for the upcoming summit with North Korea, adding that he'd love to remove sanctions but that "we have to get something." "Eventually we'll have meetings on US soil and on their soil also."

"I think North Korea is going to be a very economically successful country. Banks are calling they're wanting to go there...and that's one of the reasons we're having very successful conversations."

Asked about the timeline for naming a successor to Haley, Trump said he expects to appoint someone within the next "two or three weeks." Asked about the missing Saudi journalist, Trump said he knows "nothing" about the situation but that he would be asking the Saudis for more information.

Zero Hedge also pointed out that while Trump was sad to see Haley go, one person was happy about it.

https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1049681419021242370

- nntaleb

There is no doubt that Nikki Haley is a neo-con. As a resident of the US occupied state of South Carolina, I can attest to that fact during her time as governor and the selling out of our history. However, she was able to influence many things in the administration that cut a lot of money to the United Nations and for that, I am thankful. I only wish she would have pushed as hard to get us out of the UN as she defended Israel. Then, we wouldn't have needed to worry about a "strongest person to fight" at the anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-freedom organization.

I'm not necessarily hopeful that the next ambassador to the UN will do that either, but we can always hope.