After the United Kingdom, will the United States of America get an Indian-American President?
Republican party leader Nikki Haley is reportedly planning to run for President, challenging the candidacy of her former boss Donald Trump. The former Governor of South Carolina is likely to hold an event in Charleston on 15 February to announce her campaign, according to sources quoted by news agency Associated Press.
Haley served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations between 2017 and 2018 when Trump was President.
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During the Trump administration, Haley feuded at times with other White House officials while bolstering her own public persona. Her 2018 departure fuelled speculation that she would challenge Trump in 2020, or replace Vice President Mike Pence on the ticket, but Haley did neither.
After the January 6 Capitol siege, Haley initially cast doubts on Trump's political future but said she wouldn't challenge him in 2024.
In 2021, Haley told The Associated Press that she "would not run if President Trump ran," but she has since shifted course, ramping up activity through her Stand for America nonprofit and political action committee, and endorsing dozens of candidates in the 2022 midterm elections.
Late last year, during a visit to her alma mater, Haley told an audience at Clemson University that she would be "taking the holidays" to consider a run. Asked recently why she is now considering a run in spite of her 2021 comments, Haley told Fox News "a lot has changed," referencing, among other things, US economic troubles. She went on to say she felt she could be part of "new generational change," an indirect reference to Trump's advanced age.
(With agency inputs)