Nikki Haley, on the job barely 12 weeks as ambassador to the United Nations, has become a driving force in President Trump’s move to reassert American leadership abroad.
This was most obviously on display in the days surrounding Trump’s decision to punish Syria for using chemical weapons. In a globally televised presentation before the U.N. Security Council, the former South Carolina governor bluntly admonished Damascus for its barbarity, and, just as significantly, scolded Russia in similarly plain language for propping up dictator Bashar Assad.
Haley’s remarks, delivered before last week’s missile strike on a Syrian airfield also used by the Russian military, set the tone for Trump’s reversal from the less interventionist, “America First” foreign policy he campaigned on.
“She’s been a clarion voice on Syrian atrocities and Russian complicity in those atrocities, ably using the U.N. forum to advocate for American policies and values,” said Kori Schake, a research fellow at the conservative Hoover Institution specializing in military strategy and international affairs.
“It’s deliciously ironic that she’s insisted the Trump administration ‘doesn’t do soft power’ when that’s her actual job, and she’s proving quite good at it,” added Schake, a frequent critic of the president and close colleague of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis during his Hoover tenure.
Haley, 45, was nominated by Trump to serve as U.N. ambassador and confirmed by the Senate. The president has tended toward outsiders or loyalists for key Cabinet posts, making Haley an interesting choice.
A traditional, conservative Republican, Haley supported Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., in the 2016 primary and belatedly offered Trump a halfhearted endorsement after he won the GOP nomination.
But the president has to be happy with the hiring. Haley has won plaudits for her performance, particularly on camera. That praise is relevant considering the value Trump places on media effectiveness.
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But so far, Haley’s diplomatic potency has not matched her success as a communicator, Republican former U.N. operatives say.
The ambassador has yet to prove that she can move quickly to propose sanctions, or a resolution, and push them through the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council, where member nations, including U.S. adversaries China and Russia, wield veto power.
“She’s doing a good job of talking tough, but that’s not diplomacy,” said a Republican who previously worked at the U.S. Mission to the U.N., and requested anonymity in order to speak candidly.
Accomplishment at the U.N. is measured through critical resolutions and punitive sanctions. Americans, particularly conservatives, often dismiss the importance of U.N. action, but the organization carries weight in other countries. To deliver, Haley’s is going to have to learn how to negotiate support for U.N. action from countries’ whose interests, and values, aren’t aligned with the U.S.
That means winning over authoritarian countries like Russia that can’t be swayed by the kind of eloquent public shaming the ambassador leveled recently during a U.N. session to discuss the crisis in Syria. It means securing the backing of moderate Muslim nations that can be persuaded to side with the U.S., but that, because of domestic politics, won’t if Haley is too forceful an advocate for Israel, a key American ally.
Haley’s representatives could not be reached for comment on Friday. But in an interview with CNN, the ambassador, who had no previous high-level foreign policy experience, said that Trump has given her wide latitude to do her job, even if she decides that requires her to contradict Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who outranks her.
“I’m a strong voice by nature. I’m sometimes a bull in a china shop,” she said. “He allows me to do that.”
Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Haley is doing “a fine job.”
The congressman lauded the ambassador for bringing a traditional, post-World War II American foreign policy sensibility to her role, and, in that regard, speaking clearly and consistently on behalf of U.S. interests. Engel also made a point of praising Haley for strongly defending Israel in a body that is often hostile to the Jewish state.
Engel commended Haley for functioning at a high level despite minimal support from the State Department, which has been understaffed since Trump took office. The Democrat’s only concern was Haley’s boss. He fears that Trump will veer back toward the “America First” foreign policy he campaigned on, and that the ambassador, as his subordinate, will follow suit.
“I hope it’s a matter of, she’s pulling him in her direction, and not the other way around,” Engel said.
Sources monitoring Haley’s progress say she’s putting in the time to learn how to be an effective diplomat.
The ambassador is working with the career staff at the U.S. mission to figure out how the U.N. works, politically and operationally. The staff can help her prepare drafts for possible sanctions and resolutions that can be pulled off the shelf quickly, as international events warrant.
Haley also is busy cultivating relationships with her diplomatic counterparts. That’s crucial, and not just to win votes for resolutions.
With a network of friendships and other U.N. sources, Haley will be in a better position to be tipped off to budding resolutions or other actions Washington opposes or wants to influence, and allow her to act quickly, before they gain momentum.
Robert C. O’Brien, a Republican and former U.S. representative to the U.N. General Assembly, summed it up.
“I’ve heard she’s really rolled up her sleeves and gotten to work.”
