Kudlow walks back Haley comments: ‘She was certainly not confused’

National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on Tuesday walked back his suggestion that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley was “confused” when she announced Sunday the Trump administration would unveil new sanctions against Russia. 

Kudlow and multiple other administration officials said Haley had jumped the gun when she said the U.S. would slap new sanctions on Russian companies with ties to the production of chemical weapons in Syria. 

“She got ahead of the curve,” said Kudlow on Tuesday. “She’s done a great job. She’s a very effective ambassador, but there might have been some momentary confusion about that.” 

“With all due respect, I don’t get confused,” Haley then told Fox News’s Dana Perino.

{mosads}”She was certainly not confused,” Kudlow told The New York Times. “I was wrong to say that — totally wrong.”

Kudlow told the Times he called Haley to apologize for the remark, and that he didn’t have all the information on the policy when he said it. 

“As it turns out, she was basically following what she thought was policy,” the president’s top economic adviser said. “The policy was changed and she wasn’t told about it, so she was in a box.”

While President Trump has often praised Haley for her work in the U.N. and recent defense of the administration’s actions in Syria, one official told CNN that the president is now “annoyed” with Haley over the gaffe. 

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to Haley’s comments in a press briefing Monday, saying the administration is “considering additional sanctions on Russia” but has not made a final decision.