Nikki Haley resigns as UN ambassador: reports

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has resigned from her role in the Trump administration, according to multiple reports.

Axios, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported on Tuesday that President Trump accepted Haley’s resignation, but that it was unclear when she would depart. 

CNN and The New York Times are also reporting her resignation.

Haley told her staff on Tuesday that she planned to resign, according to NBC News.

{mosads}Haley, the former Republican governor of South Carolina, joined the administration in 2017 just four days after Trump officially took office. She had reportedly discussed leaving her position last week with Trump at the White House. 

“Big announcement with my friend Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office at 10:30am,” Trump tweeted.

Big announcement with my friend Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office at 10:30am.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2018

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced on Twitter shortly after the reports surfaced that Trump and Haley would meet in the Oval Office on Tuesday morning.

President Trump and Ambassador Nikki Haley will meet in the Oval Office at 10:30am this morning. This event will be open to the pool.

— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) October 9, 2018

Haley offered strong opinions on a variety of foreign policies while serving as U.N. ambassador.

In June, she announced the United States’ withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council, saying it was a “protector of human rights abusers and cesspool of political bias.”

She also repeatedly defended Trump during her time in the administration. In late September, she argued that the media incorrectly interpreted a moment at the United Nations General Assembly when world leaders laughed as Trump boasted about his accomplishments.

“When he said that, they love how honest he is,” she said. “It’s not diplomatic, and they find it funny. I mean, when he goes and he is very truthful, they kind of were taken back by it. … I saw that the media was trying to make it something disrespectful; that’s not what it was. They love to be with him.”

This breaking news report was updated at 10:48 a.m.