Trump Told Former Anti-Trumper Nikki Haley She ‘Should’ Run For President

Nikki Haley will officially declare that she is running for president in 2024 in two weeks, according to a new report.

The Post and Courier, a local South Carolina news outlet, reported on Wednesday that an insider from Haley’s team informed them that she will announce her 2024 run on February 15th. An invitation is soon set to go out to supporters, inviting them to watch a “special announcement” at The Shed at the Charleston Visitor Center.

The news follows months of speculation as to whether the former South Carolina governor and Trump-era UN ambassador would look to seek the nomination. Only last month, Haley appeared on Fox News with Bret Baier, where she noted that anyone who wanted to run for president would have to assess two factors before they do so.

“You first look at, does the current situation push for new leadership? The second question is, am I that person that could be that new leader.” To answer those questions, Haley said that America does need to “go in a new direction,” and that she “could be that leader.”

Haley has to be one of the most astro-turfed politicians of all time.

Total fraud. pic.twitter.com/03yRuvMWP8

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) January 20, 2023

If she does announce in February, it would make Haley only the second candidate to officially put their hat in the ring for the Republican 2024 nomination, with 45th President Donald Trump being the first to make the announcement in November last year. Other potential candidates include John Bolton, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Speaking to reporters last week, Trump said that Haley had called him to discuss a potential presidential bid.

“I talked to her for a little while, I said, ‘Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run,'” Trump said. “She’s publicly said that ‘I would never run against my president, he was a great president.'” According to Trump, he told Haley that she “should do it.”

Haley has faced criticism for a number of her policy stances and attitudes. Last July, Fox News host Tucker Carlson warned attendees at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa to be “really wary of [presidential] candidates who care what the New York Times thinks,” pointing to Haley as a prime example of submitting to whatever new media narrative arose.

In response to her appearance on Fox News last month, Darren Beattie of Revolver News reposted an article from his site in 2020 featuring the “never-ending list” of reasons why Haley shouldn’t be president, including arguing that she is a “Bush-era neocon relic,” that she is “tough on Tehran but weak on tech,” among other accusations.