Nikki Haley reveals she had 'conversation' with Trump about his 'bromance' with Putin

20 January 2024

While on the campaign stump in New Hampshire, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley suggested that former President Donald Trump was so friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin that she felt it necessary to take the matter directly to her former boss.

Mike Warren of The Dispatch tweeted about Haley's remarks on Trump's "bromance" with Putin while covering her campaign stop in Keene, New Hampshire on Saturday. The former South Carolina governor also addressed Trump's widely ridiculed remarks during a Friday night rally, in which he mistakenly referred to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) as "Nikki Haley," saying his rival's name four times.

"[W]hen you're dealing with the pressures of the presidency, we can't have someone else that we question whether they're mentally fit to do this," Haley said.

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During her time at the United Nations, Haley was a frequent and outspoken critic of Putin. In 2018, shortly before resigning from her post, Haley criticized Putin's attack on Ukrainian ships, saying his "outlaw actions" should be condemned by the international community.

"What we witnessed this weekend is yet another reckless Russian escalation," Haley said at the time. "The United States continues to stand with the people of Ukraine against this Russian aggression."

Just a few months prior, then-President Trump famously defended Putin during a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, following the US intelligence community's conclusion that Russia had meddled in the 2016 presidential election to help Trump get elected. Even Republicans panned Trump's defense of Putin, with then-House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) saying there was "no question" the Putin administration interfered in the election. Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) called Trump's remarks "disgraceful," adding "no prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant."

Haley is attempting to shore up support among New Hampshirites ahead of the Granite State's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday. Polls show her trailing Trump by roughly 13 percentage points.

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