Donald Trump calls for unity in Thanksgiving holiday address

SC governor Nikki Haley, born Nimrata Randhawa, will be the Trump administration pick for ambassador to the United Nations, his transition team announced Wednesday morning. Aides are divided between former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who staunchly backed Trump’s candidacy, but whose business dealings have drawn scrutiny; and former MA governor Mitt Romney, viewed by many as a safe pick, but who harshly criticized Trump during the campaign.

The South Carolina governor has little foreign policy experience, yet Trump praised her as “a proven dealmaker”.

Haley, 44, was born Nimrata Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina – she was called “Nikki” as a child and took the family name of husband Michael when they married in Sikh and Methodist ceremonies in 1996.

Donald Trump has just appointed his first top-level woman, none other than South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley, to become the USA ambassador to the United Nations.

President-elect Donald Trump began to form his version of Lincoln’s “team of rivals” with his nomination of SC governor Nikki Haley to be USA ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley spoke out against Trump in the GOP presidential primary, though her lieutenant governor was an early Trump devotee.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson on Wednesday said “an announcement is forthcoming” on his position, which would make him the first black choice – possibly as secretary of housing and urban development. Graham is chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Operations Subcommittee on Appropriations, which is responsible for funding the United Nations and all American foreign assistance.

“Trump’s nomination of Nikki Haley to be our ambassador to the United Nations and to sit at the Horse Shoe table of the Security Council, a cabinet level position, has taken my breath away”, said Ravi Batra, a top Indian-American attorney in NY.

Not all presidents have treated the ambassadorship to the U.N.as a Cabinet-level position, and Republicans have tended not to grant that status.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence said that Romney is “under active and serious consideration” to be secretary of state. “I think she is well-spoken, super-educated and I think she will have a wonderful working relationship with the United Nations”, she said.

Yet it could be an awkward role at times.

In January, during Haley’s response on behalf of the Republican Party to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, she promised that a Republican president “would make global agreements that were celebrated in Israel and protested in Iran, not the other way around”.

Relations between Haley and Trump have been far from cordial, with both vaulting verbal jabs at each other during the race for the White House.

Two of the closest American allies, Israel and the United Kingdom, have also welcomed the decision to appoint Haley as the next USA envoy to the United Nations.

By nominating Haley to the United Nations ambassadorship, Trump is effectively promoting McMaster to the governor’s mansion. He feels Haley’s ability to bridge gaps has already been seen during her time as governor.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a strong supporter of Israel, said the appointment would go a long way in “reassuring” Israel that the incoming administration will be on its side in global forums.

Haley led an effort past year to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of the SC state capitol after the killing of nine black churchgoers in Charleston.

“General James “Mad Dog” Mattis, who is being considered for secretary of defense, was very impressive yesterday”, Trump wrote Sunday.

In Trump’s case, he has set $1 million donation limits for corporations and no limits for individual donors, according to an official on the Presidential Inaugural Committee with direct knowledge of tentative fundraising plans.

Ms DeVos, from MI, said in July: “A lot of the things he has said are very off-putting and concerning”.

A week ago while meeting with other Republican governors in Orlando, Haley described herself as “giddy” over the prospect of joining the Trump administration.