President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that Nikki Haley — who served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in his first term, and then ran against him for the Republican nomination this cycle — will not be invited to join his administration.
He also said that Mike Pompeo, who was both secretary of state and CIA director in Trump’s first term, would not be rejoining his Cabinet either.
“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump wrote. “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country.”
This comes after two sources familiar with the process had told CBS News that the 60-year-old Pompeo was being discussed as a possible contender for secretary of defense.
The 52-year-old Haley, the former governor of South Carolina, ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, but endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida after dropping out.
However, Trump still selected her to be his U.N. ambassador, a post she held until her abrupt resignation in 2018. At the time, Trump praised her, saying that she was “very special” to him and that she could return to his administration in the future, adding, “You can have your pick.”
Haley did not run for president in 2020, but launched a 2024 bid against her former boss. She suspended her campaign following Super Tuesday in March, the last major Republican challenger in the field to do so.
But it was not until over two months later, when she delivered an address at Milwaukee’s Republican National Convention in July, that she endorsed Trump.
At the time, she said Trump had asked her to speak in a “show of unity.”
In an interview with CBS News’ “Face the Nation” in September, Haley told Margaret Brennan that “I don’t agree with Trump 100% of the time.”
“I don’t have to like him or agree with him 100% of the time to know that life for Americans would be better under the policies where we had strong immigration, where we had law and order, where we had an economy where we could look at opportunities, where we’ve got national security that is strong,” she said.
Pompeo, who also endorsed Trump at the RNC, served for all four years of the first Trump administration. He chose not to run against Trump in 2024.
Trump on Friday announced that he had selected his campaign co-chair, Susie Wiles, to be his White House chief of staff, making her the first woman in history to hold that post. It marked his first major White House staffing decision since defeating Vice President Kamala Harris to win the presidency.
Kathryn Watson,
Melissa Quinn,
Caitlin Yilek,
James LaPorta and
Robert Costa
contributed to this report.
