Nikki Haley of South Carolina to announce 2024 presidential bid in Charleston on February 15

Nikki Haley will reportedly announce her presidential campaign on February 15: The former Trump ambassador to the UN has joined the former president in his bid for the Republican nomination.

On Wednesday, supporters of the former South Carolina governor will receive an email invitation to a Feb. 15 launch event in Charleston where she plans to announce her campaign, a person familiar with the plans but not authorized to discuss said. speak publicly about them. The mail and the messenger.

When she enters the race, Haley will be the first contender to join the race against her former boss, who is currently the only Republican seeking his party’s 2024 nomination.

Haley, 51, was the governor of South Carolina for six years before becoming President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.

Haley indicated his potential candidacy earlier this year in an interview with Fox News, stating: ‘When you’re looking for a run for president, you look at two things: First you look, is the current situation prompting new leadership? The second question is, am I that person who could be that new leader?

‘Yes, we have to go in a new direction. And can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader.

His indication was the exact opposite of what he said in April, when he announced at a press conference that he would not run against Trump.

Although he said he would support him, he said, “I wouldn’t run against Trump.”

Trump was in South Carolina on Saturday for the initial campaign swing of his 2024 campaign, standing with Governor Henry McMaster, who served as Haley’s lieutenant governor, and several Republican members of the state delegation, part of his leadership team in the early voting state .

During the Trump administration, Haley occasionally quarreled with other White House officials while reinforcing her own public persona. His departure in 2018 fueled speculation that she would challenge Trump in 2020 or replace Vice President Mike Pence on the ticket, but Haley did neither.

Instead, Haley returned to South Carolina, where she bought a house on Kiawah Island, joined the board of directors of aircraft maker Boeing Co. and hit the speaking circuit, collecting fees of up to $200,000. He wrote two books, a step commonly taken by many on the road to the White House.

Haley, 51, was the governor of South Carolina for six years before becoming President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations.

After the January 6 Capitol siege, Haley initially raised doubts about Trump’s political future, but said she would not challenge him in 2024.

In 2021, Haley told The Associated Press that she “wouldn’t run if President Trump ran,” but has since reversed course, ramping up activity through her nonprofit Stand for America and political action committee, and endorsing dozens of candidates in the polls. 2022 midterm elections.

At the end of last year, during a visit to his alma mater, Haley told an audience at Clemson University that she would “take vacation” to consider a career.

When recently asked why he is now considering running despite his 2021 comments, Haley told Fox News that “a lot has changed,” referencing, among other things, America’s economic woes.

He went on to say that he felt he could be part of the “new generational shift,” an indirect reference to Trump’s advancing age.

In South Carolina on Saturday, Trump told WIS-TV that Haley had called him several days earlier to ask his opinion. Trump pointed to her earlier promise not to run against him, but said she did not try to stop her.

“She said she would never run against me because I was the best president, but people change their opinions and they change what’s in their hearts,” Trump said. “So I said, if your heart wants to do it, you have to go do it.”