Nikki Haley Is Possibly Positioning Herself For POTUS, Post Trump

With the question ‘is Trump resigning’ segueing into ‘when is Trump resigning,’ many are hedging their bets on the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, making a Republican presidential bid in the wake of such a possibility.

Many in the GOP, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConell, are questioning if Trump can survive his full term of four years; they are also worried that those who have served in his administration may carry the taint of association if he resigns or is impeached, and thus may not have the credibility to make a bid.

Haley is seen as one of the few Trump administration officials expected to survive the Trump presidency without their political capital diminished.

Haley has boosted her credentials as the U.S. ambassador to the UN by charting an independent, some would say even blasphemous, course in foreign policy that has been severely at odds with the Trump administration.

While Trump has been ambiguous about Russia meddling in Ukraine, Syria and the 2016 presidential election, Haley has taken the Russians to task on each of those issues.

She has even endorsed special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into potential collusion between Trump’s associates and Russia during the 2016 election, a probe Trump has termed a “witch hunt.”

“What Nikki Haley says doesn’t seem to be linked to administration policy — she’s freelancing much more [than her predecessors],” a former senior official at the U.S. mission to the UN told Vox reporter Zeeshan Aleem.

Many believe Haley’s stance is a calculated tight-rope walk whereby she is keeping her distance from the Trump administration and positioning herself for a future presidential run.

“The fact that she’s been so much more critical of Russia than the rest of the administration allows her to get some distance from the administration — and that feels like something that’s quite calculated,” the former official said. “It seems like she’s positioning herself for a future run.”

Though Haley has denied having presidential ambitions since being selected by Trump for duty at the UN, in the case of a Trump ouster the opening for her to make a bid is likely to be unfettered.

Speaking to CNN in April, she said: “Everyone thinks that I’m ambitious, and everybody thinks I’m trying to run for something, and everybody thinks that I want more. I can’t imagine running for the white house.”

However, a New York Times report about Republicans positioning themselves for possible stand-ins for Trump, said Haley has “put her longtime pollster on the payroll, has gotten better acquainted with some of New York’s financiers and carved out a far more muscular foreign policy niche than Mr. Trump.”

All indications that Haley is preparing the ground from where she can lob her hat into the presidential ring.

In another sign of where the wind is blowing, Haley is one of the subjects of a full-scale opposition research, by the Democrats, of the Republicans they believe could challenge Trump for reelection — or are likely to run if he does not.

Apart from Haley, the research covers Vice President Mike Pence, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse among others, Politico reported.