Who Is Dina Powell? Trump’s Top Pick To Replace Nikki Haley

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his administration was talking to Dina Powell, his former advisor and Goldman Sachs executive, about possibly succeeding Nikki Haley as United States ambassador to the United Nations.

Senior officials and people familiar with the matter said Powell was Trump’s top pick for the post though others were being considered as well, reports said.

When asked if Powell was a front-runner for the post, Trump told reporters at the White House, "No, but she's somebody we're talking to."

“She’s certainly being considered. She’s done a great job, she was with us, as you know, for a long time,” the president said Tuesday. “Been with me from the beginning. She’s certainly excellent. But she’s one of — we have four or five . . . that we’re looking at very seriously. It’ll be good. Nikki did a great job. We have four or five really great candidates.”

"We're looking at many people," Trump said, adding some of the people who were being considered were currently part of his administration.

Names of other possible candidates were not made public at the meeting or by senior officials who talked to news outlets.

Trump has not yet made an official offer to Powell, an official said, according to a report in the Washington Post. It was after Haley’s resignation was announced Tuesday that Trump spoke to Powell, the report added.

Haley announced her resignation from the post of the U.S. ambassador to the UN earlier this week in a press conference at the White House and said she will be stepping down by the end of the year.

Her possible replacement, Powell, used to serve as the national security advisor in the Trump administration but stepped down early this year and landed herself a job as a senior executive at Goldman Sachs, headquartered in New York City.

She was also close with Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband Jared Kushner, who both currently serve as White House aides. According to reports, Powell maintained friendly ties with the president even after leaving his office.

According to the Washington Post report, even if she was a favorite choice of the POTUS, she might face some opposition internally. Powell was reportedly disliked by John F. Kelly, White House Chief of Staff. Powell also differed on policy issues with national security adviser John Bolton.

She had emigrated from Egypt to Texas with her family as a child, and was known for her vast network of relationships across the Middle East, a report in Business Insider said. She was also fluent in Arabic and had helped coordinate Trump's first foreign trip apart from arranging a series of meetings in Egypt for Vice President Mike Pence late January.

Powell attended Ursuline Academy of Dallas, a prep school for girls, and graduated in 1991. She enrolled in Liberal Arts Plan II honors program, studying a mix of humanities, sociology, political science, and criminology at the University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts and graduated with honors and a bachelor's degree in Humanities in 1995.

According to a CNBC reporter, Trump said he will be making his decision regarding the post "in the next week or two." However, the report added Sen. Bob Corker already knew about the president’s decision.