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.