Nikki Haley Resigns as UN Ambassador

A surprise move in the Trump administration: Nikki Haley has resigned as ambassador to the UN, reports Axios. The reason why the former governor of South Carolina stepped down wasn't immediately clear, but President Trump said she would be gone by the end of the year. Haley "has been very special to me, she's done an incredible job," Trump said while sitting next to Haley in the Oval Office on Tuesday, per the Washington Post and CNN. Haley didn't shed light on her decision. "No, I'm not running in 2020," she told reporters, per the AP. While Haley had criticized Trump during the 2016 campaign, she strongly pushed his policies upon being appointed to her UN post. In fact, she once warned that she would be "taking names" of countries who crossed the US.

The New York Times has some quick background, noting that Haley's appointment to the post had been seen as an "olive branch" given her criticism of Trump the candidate. She hasn't always been in sync with White House talking points. Late last year, she said that women accusing the president of sexual misconduct "should be heard." In April, however, she said that her relationship with the president was "perfect," reports Politico. Haley also wrote a recent op-ed saying that when she disagreed with Trump's decisions, she never hesitated to confront him about it. The piece was her response to the anonymous author of an op-ed who criticized the White House from within. (More Nikki Haley stories.)