Donald Trump on
Wednesday named South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, a former critic with
little foreign policy experience, as the next U.S. ambassador to the United
Nations at a time of uncertainty over America's international role under his
presidency.
Haley, one of two
women chosen so far for a job in Trump's Cabinet, is "a proven dealmaker,
and we look to be making plenty of deals. She will be a great leader
representing us on the world stage," the Republican president-elect said
in a statement.
Trump on Wednesday
also picked wealthy Republican donor and school choice advocate Betsy DeVos to
lead the Education Department.
Haley, the
44-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants, represents what some Republicans
hope could be the new face of their party: a younger, more diverse generation
of leaders.
Haley took Trump
strongly to task during the presidential campaign over his harsh rhetoric about
illegal immigration and for not speaking forcefully enough against white
supremacists.
Trump has chosen
mostly male conservatives so far for senior positions as he shapes his
administration following his victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov.
8 election. Trump takes over from Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20.
Also on Wednesday, a
spokesman for former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Trump
had not offered the retired neurosurgeon the post of housing and urban
development secretary, disputing a Wall Street Journal report, which the
newspaper later corrected.
"Trump did not
make an offer," Carson spokesman Armstrong Williams told Reuters. "He
asked him to consider HUD. Nothing has been offered and no decision has been
made."
Carson told Fox News
on Wednesday night: "We are considering which is the way that I can be
most effective. So that information should come out in the next few days. We
will make a public announcement."
The Wall Street
Journal, citing two people familiar with the deliberations, also reported that
Trump was expected to pick billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as commerce
secretary.
In a video message
released ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, Trump said he
hoped it would be a time for Americans "to begin to heal our
divisions" following a "long and bruising political campaign."
"Emotions are
raw and tensions just don’t heal overnight," Trump said. "Now begins
a great national campaign to rebuild our country and to restore the full
promise of America for all of our people."
AMERICA'S GLOBAL
ROLE
The choice of Haley
may be aimed at countering criticism of Trump's divisive comments about
immigrants and minorities, as well as accusations of sexism during his election
campaign.
Haley led a
successful effort last year to remove the Confederate battle flag from the
grounds of the South Carolina state capitol after the killing of nine black
churchgoers in Charleston. The flag was carried by pro-slavery Confederate
forces during the Civil War and is viewed by many as a racist emblem.
Haley said she had
accepted Trump's offer and would remain governor pending her confirmation to
the Cabinet-level post by the U.S. Senate.
"When the
president believes you have a major contribution to make to the welfare of our
nation, and to our nation's standing in the world, that is a calling that is
important to heed," she said in a statement.
Haley's job may
include reassuring allies worried about some of Trump's campaign promises,
including building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to curb illegal
immigration and reviewing trade agreements, and his suggestion that he would
push NATO partners to pay more for their own defense.
He has antagonized
China, another major power at the United Nations, with his talk on trade and
territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
The New York real
estate magnate, who has never held public office, gave few clues about his
world view during an extensive interview with The New York Times on Tuesday.
Asked what he sees
as America's role in the world, Trump replied: "That's such a big
question." When pressed further, he described the Iraq war as a mistake,
urged better relations with Russia and called for an end to "that
craziness that’s going on in Syria."
The United States,
which along with Russia is one of the five permanent veto powers on the
15-member U.N. Security Council, is also the largest funder of the United
Nations, paying more than a quarter of its $8 billion peace-keeping budget and
22 percent of the regular budget.
Trump picked
conservatives to lead his national security and law enforcement teams last week,
suggesting he plans to make good on his campaign promises to take a hard line
on Islamist militancy and curbing illegal immigration
But a relative
moderate, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, is among the
candidates under consideration to head the State Department.
SHARP WORDS FOR
TRUMP
Haley would succeed
Obama's U.N. envoy, Samantha Power, a foreign policy expert before she took the
job. In contrast, Haley, a state lawmaker before becoming governor, has little
experience in international relations.
She was a robust
critic of Trump during the early stages of the Republican presidential
nominating race, including condemning him for not disavowing the support of the
Ku Klux Klan and one of the white supremacist group's former leaders, David
Duke.
In a rebuttal to
Obama's State of the Union address in January, Haley called for tolerance on
immigration and civility in politics, in what some saw as a rebuke of Trump.
"During anxious
times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest
voices," she said. "We must resist that temptation."
She supported Trump
rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, both U.S. senators, in the Republican race
before saying last month she would vote for Trump despite reservations about
his character.
Haley also
criticized Trump last winter for not releasing his tax returns, prompting him
to hit back on Twitter: "The people of South Carolina are embarrassed of
Nikki Haley!"
EDUCATION CHOICE
DeVos, Trump's
education pick, is a billionaire former chair of the Michigan Republican Party,
who has long pushed for a larger role for private education.
Trump said she would
"break the bureaucracy that is holding our children back." Her appointment
is also subject to Senate confirmation.
As chair of the
American Federation for Children advocacy group, DeVos has advocated for
vouchers that families can use to send their children to private schools and
for the expansion of charter schools.
The National
Education Association, the country's largest teachers union, condemned DeVos'
nomination. "She has consistently pushed a corporate agenda to privatize,
de-professionalize and impose cookie-cutter solutions to public
education," said NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia.
Reuters
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