The news website Axios, which first broke the story, said that the decision was Haley's and that the White House foreign policy team was "shocked" when she offered her resignation October 3. Jim Kavanagh, editor of ThePolemicist.net, joined Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear Tuesday to discuss the speculation surrounding Haley's resignation.
"One issue that seems to come up is that it seems she was being pushed out a little bit from the inner circle of Trump once [US National Security Adviser John] Bolton and [US Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo came in, and she was very adamant about that when she took the position [that she constantly needed to be in the inner circle]. Her influence had been waning somewhat [compared to] Bolton," Kavanagh told Radio Sputnik, suggesting that Haley decided to leave on her own terms instead of being influenced by the likes of Bolton and Pompeo.
"The other possible issue is that apparently she has a lot of money that she owes, and that might be an issue. She can make a lot more in the private sector. And then there's speculation that maybe she's setting herself up, not for 2020, but for 2024 [to run for president]," Kavanagh added.
According to Haley's 2018 financial disclosures, she owes between $25,000 and $65,000 in credit card payments and has a mortgage greater than $1 million.
On Tuesday, Haley stated she would not be running for the White House in 2020, but would campaign for Trump. However, according to some, that doesn't mean that Haley is not setting herself up to run for president in 2024.
"Haley wanted to run for president. Anyways she's talked about it for years, but she has no foreign policy credentials. So what better place to put her than in the UN? Now, even though she's only been there for 21 months, she can say she's a foreign policy professional, go to the Senate and sit there for the next four and a half years and wait for Trump to lose in 2020, and [then she can] run in 2024," Kiriakou speculated.
One thing that most definitely isn't true, according to Kavanagh, is that Haley is a "moderate voice" among the Republicans, as many news sources, including CNN and The New York Times, have been claiming.
"In all ways, she has helped mobilize public opinion in the US, and she's tried globally, but she's failed globally to build this case of animosity and hostility against North Korea, against Russia, against China, against Venezuela, against the Palestinians. She has been like a wrecking ball," Becker noted.
"What Haley represented in international politics [is] American exceptionalism and Israeli exceptionalism," Kavanagh agreed.
"This [American exceptionalism] has been going on for 16 years at least, and the Obama administration made it acceptable policy for the Democrats, so you don't get any pushback for this militarism and exceptionalism," Kavanagh added.
On Tuesday, the US president expressed hope that Haley would come back to his administration in a different role. Haley thanked the president for allowing her the "honor of a lifetime" to serve as UN ambassador.
"We're all happy for you in one way, but we hate to lose [you]…. Hopefully, you'll be coming back at some point. Maybe a different capacity. You can have your pick," Trump said.
Nikki Haley has served as the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations since 2017. Before being appointed to the office, she served as governor of South Carolina.