Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley gave her most extensive remarks on her relationship with former President Donald Trump on Monday in Israel, just days after her Republican primary campaign rival predicted that Haley would “absolutely” be on his “team in some form” going forward.
Trump’s comments came just a day after Haley pledged to vote for him in November, despite the intense rhetoric used by the campaigns before she ended her presidential bid in March. Asked about how she could work with Trump going forward, Haley said you can’t take campaign fights “personal” and that what’s most important is working together for the country.
“I’ve always been able to take the emotion and the personal part out of politics because that is the only way you can do the right thing,” Haley said at a press conference during a tour of southern Israel. “This is about America. It’s about a strong America, it’s about a strong Israel. It’s about having the backs of our friends.”
Haley explained that voting to reelect President Joe Biden isn’t an option when comparing his policies to those of Trump.
“This is all about policy, and when you look at the policies of the two, I am very much on one side. It’s not even close,” she added. “We sparred in a campaign. If I thought either one of them were great, I wouldn’t have run. I ran because I thought I could do a better job, but at the end of the day, it is what it is.”
Haley’s comments came at a press conference in Sderot after she finished a tour of places in Israel attacked by Hamas on October 7. Her tour included Kibbutz Nir Oz, the site of the Nova massacre, a military base by the Gaza border, and the site of the now-destroyed police station in Sderot.
Haley positively reflected on her time in the Trump administration as the UN Ambassador, chalking it up to having the freedom to make decisions in the role.
“The goal was to make sure we knew who our friends were and who our enemies were, and I think the reason that he and I worked well together during that time was because he let me do my job, which was to call out our enemies, but we never forgot our friends, which is why we stood with Israel,” Haley said.
“All you have to do is look at the fact that he moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and acknowledged the truth, he allowed me to defund UNRWA,” she added.
Trump said last week that Haley was a “very capable person.”
“We had a nasty campaign,” Trump said in the interview with News 12 New York. “But she’s a very capable person, and I’m sure she’s going to be on our team in some form, absolutely.” He added that the two “have a lot of the same ideas, the same thoughts.”
When Haley was asked Monday if she would accept being Trump’s running mate, Haley said Trump has “made it very clear” that she’s not in the running for that position. “I don’t think about things that are not reality,” Haley said.
Haley’s remarks during her visit to Israel largely steered clear of the presidential election. “The last thing I want to do is come to Israel and talk about American politics,” Haley said. “What I do want to do is come to Israel and make sure that the American people see what I see, hear what I hear.”
She criticized both Republicans and Democrats for failing to make a strong case for supporting Israel to the American people.
“The one flaw that I will say of Republicans and Democrats in America is they’re not telling Americans why they should care about Israel. They’re not telling Americans why they should care about Ukraine,” she said. “They’re just making the decision and allowing Americans to hear it in sound bites. Americans are smart. When you give them the information, when you tell them why they need to care, they do.”
Haley announced she was going to vote for Trump during a Hudson Institute event last Wednesday when asked which candidate would be the best for national security.
“As a voter, I put my priorities on a president who’s going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account, [and] who would secure the border. No more excuses,” Haley said. “A president who would support capitalism and freedom. A president who understands we need less debt, not more debt. Trump has not been perfect on these policies. I’ve made that clear many, many times. But Biden has been a catastrophe.”
“So I will be voting for Trump,” Haley continued. “Having said that, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech. Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me, and not assume that they’re just going to be with him. And I genuinely hope he does that.”
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