April 10, 2017

Once a Trump Critic, Nikki Haley Casts Herself as His Leading Diplomat

Featuring Michèle Flournoy

Source: The New York Times

Journalist Somini Sengupta

Before and after he became president, Donald J. Trump made it pretty clear that he didn’t see much value in the United Nations. So when he named Nikki R. Haley as his choice for United Nations ambassador, many wondered whether he was simply shunting a tough critic into a trivial post.

In the past week, Ms. Haley has made it increasingly clear that she has no intention of being sidelined. To the contrary, as diplomats at the United Nations saw it, she managed to elbow herself into a leading, outspoken role in the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, wielding pictures of dead Syrian children, she was the first senior official in the administration to warn that the United States could take unilateral action against Syria’s president for the chemical attack that killed more than 80 people in his country. The same day, she was named a full member of the coveted principals’ committee on Mr. Trump’s National Security Council, where crucial policy work is done.

Read the full article at the New York Times.

Authors

  • Michèle Flournoy

    CNAS Board of Director, Chief Executive Officer, WestExec

    Michèle Flournoy is CEO of WestExec and is the former CEO of CNAS, an organization she co-founded. She serves on the CNAS Board of Directors. She served as the Under Secretary...