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Saturday, October 5, 2024

What caused the resignation of the US Ambassador to UN?

News Analysis |

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, tendered her resignation on the 9th of October, Tuesday. The timing of her sudden resignation has raised many eyebrows. Haley was widely seen as one of the most competent and level-headed members of the Trump cabinet. She is popular at home, especially among conservatives. She was elected as the first woman governor of South Carolina.

In total, she has been in public office for nearly 14 years. She was seen as a strong independent woman and often acted so in her capacity as the UN Ambassador. She resolved to reform the UN in the interest of the United States. In her letter of resignation, she claims to have saved $1.3 billion for the American taxpayer. Haley was much more assertive at the United Nations than her predecessor, Samantha Power.

Haley has one child going to school and another one readying up for college, which can be ridiculously expensive in the United States. She says in her letter that she doesn’t intend to run for office in 2020.

She was very blunt in her criticism of US adversaries i.e. ‘dictators’ such as Bashar-ul-Asad, Kim Jung Un and Vladimir Putin, even when the American President himself was cozying up to the Russian premier. Her most controversial actions are probably those in support of Israel. UN resolutions regularly condemn human rights violations in occupied Palestinian territory, or Jerusalem as Trump would now have it but Haley condemned the United Nations itself for being biased and unfair.

Read more: Nikki Haley suddenly resigns as Trump’s UN ambassador

At one point, Haley even made a formal list of countries that supported Israel along with the US, commemorating them for their stance in support of Israel. Despite her controversial views, she was seen as one of the adults in an otherwise erratic and disorganized Trump white house. After reading Michael Wolff’s book ‘Fire and Fury’ about the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, one gets the impression that the oval office is being run like a dorm for freshmen at a college.

That is why her resignation is such a surprise. However, this isn’t the first time someone from the Trump White House has left office suddenly. At least two dozen staffers and seniors officials have either resigned in protest for one reason or another or fired by Trump. White House Communications director Hope Hicks left office in the first few months of the Trump’s tenure, after testifying to a Congressional Committee that she had told ‘white lies’ on Trump’s behalf.

Haley was widely seen as one of the most competent and level-headed members of the Trump cabinet. She is popular at home, especially among conservatives. She was elected as the first woman governor of South Carolina.

Former national security advisor Lt. General Michael Flynn also had to leave after it emerged that he had lied to the Vice President and the FBI about the nature of his contact with the Russian Ambassador to the US. Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson was fired by Trump. Reportedly, Tillerson was very critical of the president, calling him an ‘idiot’ on occasion. A senior economist in the Trump cabinet also resigned in protest over the president’s approval of imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Read more: Strikes on Syria, not a “one time job”: Nikki Haley

Nikki Haley is the latest white house official to tender her resignation. It’s little surprise that many observers see the Trump administration as akin to a revolving door for staffers. Officials come and when they realize serving in this administration is doing no good for anybody, they resign. Nikki Haley was a very outspoken member of Trump’s team. She joined his cabinet on the condition that she be allowed to speak her mind freely and is known to disagree with the President on various issues.

This is why she was seen as a counter-weight and perhaps a restraining influence on the worst impulses of a president who has trouble reading multi-page reports. Why did she resign at this point in time? One possible explanation is that she resigned after Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed as a Justice of the American Supreme Court.

After reading Michael Wolff’s book ‘Fire and Fury’ about the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, one gets the impression that the oval office is being run like a dorm for freshmen at a college.

The Senate confirmed him in 50-48 vote. His confirmation hearing was dogged by allegations of sexual harassment by one Dr. Ford, who claimed he had harassed her while being drunk over 30 years ago. After the women’s march and the #MeToo movement, the confirmation of a man with a history of drunken behavior and harassment to the Supreme Court may have compelled Nikki Haley to resign in protest.

Read more: Haley says that Pyongyang will be destroyed if it doesn’t change…

When several women came forward with allegations that Trump had harassed them, Haley said that they should be heard. Reportedly, the president took issue with Haley’s stance at the time. But to be fair, her letter of resignation does not give any indication of such a reason for her decision. With congressional elections just a few weeks’ away, Democrats have a chance to end Republican dominance in government. Haley’s resignation notice just before these elections has raised questions about the timing of her decision.

Another possible reason could be money. In her resignation letter, she says to the president that he must be aware that going to the private sector from a public office is always a step up, not a step-down. Haley has one child going to school and another one readying up for college, which can be ridiculously expensive in the United States. She says in her letter that she doesn’t intend to run for office in 2020.

She has agreed to stay in office till January 2019, to give time to the President and the Congress to nominate and confirm her replacement, respectively.