U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley reportedly announced her departure on Tuesday — even though she’s leaving at the end of the year — because she wanted to avoid appearing as though she were leaving the Trump administration in response to potential negative outcomes of the midterm elections or any other negative news, Politico reported.
According to two people familiar with the matter, Haley also was trying to avoid the appearance that the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe had anything to do with her departure.
While Haley’s official story is that her exit is fueled by her passion for term limits, her allies say Haley felt she couldn’t move up any further in the Trump administration and she decided to “bow out,” in Politico’s words. Haley attempted to put any speculation about her political future to rest by saying she had no ambitions to run for president in 2020, but many anti-Trump Republicans are still hoping she’ll emerge as a primary challenger to the President.
According to a White House official who spoke to Politico, Haley’s political ambitions have always “irritated” Trump.