Nikki Haley Says Tillerson and Kelly Tried to Get Her to Undermine Trump

In her new memoir, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley claims that two of President Trump’s highest-ranking administration members were trying to convince her to join them in actively undermining him.

The Washington Post:

Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson and former White House chief of staff John F. Kelly sought to recruit her to work around and subvert Trump, but she refused, Haley writes in a new book, “With All Due Respect,” which also describes Tillerson as “exhausting” and imperious and Kelly as suspicious of her access to Trump.

“Kelly and Tillerson confided in me that when they resisted the president, they weren’t being insubordinate, they were trying to save the country,” Haley wrote.

“It was their decisions, not the president’s, that were in the best interests of America, they said. The president didn’t know what he was doing,” Haley wrote of the views the two men held.

Tillerson and Kelly perhaps weren’t there long enough to be considered Deep State, so maybe we can call them “New State” or something. Then again, true devotees of the Deep State theory — and I’m getting there more and more every day — would say that the two were put in place by people who were already entrenched.

Should Trump be re-elected, the reputations of all of these “smart” people who worked from within against him are going to be annihilated.

Haley has navigated the Trump era better than most Republicans who spent time in the administration. After endorsing Marco Rubio in the 2016 South Carolina primary when she was the state’s governor, she was a bit of a surprising pick for Trump to represent the U.S. at the United Nations.

Nikki Haley Dismisses Grounds for Impeachment and Triggers Never Trumpers

They’ve managed a functional political relationship since then. Haley is grounded, she isn’t driven by emotion. It’s no secret that she is probably gunning for the 2024 Republican nomination, and she is not going to waste time jumping on the Trump Derangement Syndrome bandwagon just to get The New York Times to say a few nice things about her.

She has someone far more useful on her side though:

.@NikkiHaley is out with a new book, “With All Due Respect” this week. Make sure you order your copy today, or stop by one of her book tour stops to get a copy and say hello. Good luck Nikki! https://t.co/uHKAAlVuLt

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2019

If there are more stories like this — and I suspect there are — the oft-maligned turnover in the administration makes sense. Also, between this news and the Ukraine whistleblower’s deep connections to high-level Democrats, the media’s claim that Trump is paranoid gets weaker and weaker.

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PJ Media Associate Editor Stephen Kruiser is the author of “Don’t Let the Hippies Shower” and “Straight Outta Feelings: Political Zen in the Age of Outrage,” both of which address serious subjects in a humorous way. Monday through Friday he edits PJ Media’s “Morning Briefing.”