Nikki Haley resigns unexpectedly as Trump's UN ambassador

WASHINGTON:

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has resigned, a personal familiar with the situation said on Tuesday, and the White House said she would appear with President Donald Trump at an event later in the morning.

Trump accepted the resignation, Axios news site reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. Haley discussed her resignation with Trump last week when she visited him at the White House, these sources said.

Big announcement with my friend Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office at 10:30am.

White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said the two would meet in the Oval Office with media present.

Haley, who has been one of Trump's most trusted advisers, would not confirm the report to Reuters when asked about it during a visit to the White House on Tuesday.

A former governor of South Carolina who is the daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is seen as a rising star in the Republican Party and a possible candidate for the 2020 presidential elections.

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But she said on Tuesday she would not be running in 2020 and would campaign for Trump.

Echoing previous statements from Trump, Haley said the United States under his presidency is now respected around the world

“Now the United States is respected. Countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do. They know that if we say we’re going to do something, we follow it through,” she said.

Haley is the latest in a long list of senior staff members to leave the Trump administration, including former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was fired in March.

Earlier this year, Haley, 46, told Reuters that, “Every day I feel like I put body armour on,” to protect US interests at the United Nations.

Haley discussed her resignation with Trump last week when she visited him at the White House, Axios news site reported.