US President-elect Donald Trump has shut the door on Nikki Haley declaring that he won’t be inviting her to join his administration, but another Indian American, Vivek Ramaswamy, may get a senior role.
Out of the blue, in his post on Truth Social, Trump also said that Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state and Central Intelligence head, won’t get a job with him either.
“I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation”, he said on Truth Social, a social media site for short posts that was started when X (formerly Twitter) banned him.
However, he added, “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country”.
During a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, Trump praised Ramaswamy as “very smart” and said that “he's going to be a part of something that's going to be really big”.
“I don't want to tell him yet exactly (his position). We're gonna pick the right (one)”, he said.
Trump added, “We can put him in charge of one of these big monsters (in government) and he'll do a better job than anybody you can think of.”
Haley became the first Indian-American to hold a cabinet post when Trump appointed her as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations, a high-level position in the US.
She quit the job after only two years and quietly began building her base beyond South Carolina state, where she had been governor.
Haley made an unsuccessful run for the Republican party’s presidential nomination and was the last to drop out of the race and endorse him, angering Trump.
Her appeal was to the moderate Republicans, some of whom defected to Vice President Kamala Harris because of what they saw as character problems of Trump.
Although Haley said that she was on standby to campaign for Trump, she was not invited to speak at his rallies or any event.
After criticising his campaign as "overly masculine", she made a last-minute pitch for Trump in an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal, but it was laced with criticism of him and not a total acclamation.
“I don't agree with Mr Trump 100 per cent of the time. But I do agree with him most of the time, and I disagree with Ms Harris nearly all the time. That makes this an easy call” to vote for him, she wrote.
However, she added the criticism that while the moderates “like much of what he did as President and agree with most of his policies” they “dislike his tone and can't condone his excesses, such as his conduct on January 6, 2021” when his supporters rioted and invaded the Capitol when Congress was in the process of certifying President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election.
The multi-millionaire pharmaceutical entrepreneur Ramaswamy also ran against him but folded his campaign early and became his unquestioning supporter, and at one rally compared Trump to George Washington, the Father of the Nation.
Recalling the fight for the party nomination, Trump said, “I had to compete with this guy, and I thought it was going to be easy, but it wasn't. He was nasty. He was quick. He's smart as hell.”
“He did amazingly well, because he started really as a rookie, right? And he got up and he wiped a lot of very smart politicians off the stage”, Trump said.
During a debate of the candidates for the Republican nomination that Trump boycotted, Ramaswamy made the strongest attacks on Haley over her support for aid to Ukraine.
There is also media speculation that Ramaswamy may not take an administration job and instead seek the governorship of Ohio in the 2026 election.
Pompeo had figured in media speculation for a cabinet position, possibly Defence, in Trump’s administration. But apparently the former Army captain failed the loyalty test, even though he endorsed Trump, because he had criticised him for holding on to classified documents after leaving the White House for which Trump was being prosecuted.
He and Haley are staunch supporters of Ukraine, while Trump has been ambivalent claiming he would end the invasion by Russia.
Sri Lankan Navy arrests 32 Tamil fishermen, five boats seized
The Sri Lankan Navy has arrested 32 fishermen from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu for allegedly crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and fishing in Lankan waters.
Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi hails ISRO's century in rocket launches, urges people to dedicate a day for science
Addressing the 119th episode of his monthly radio programme, 'Mann Ki Baat', on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the Indian Space Research Organisation, saying it has hit the century in space. Last month, the country witnessed the ISRO's 100th rocket launch.
Mizoram student stabbed to death in Kerala, batchmate arrested
A 22-year-old BTech student from Mizoram was stabbed to death near his college in Thiruvananthapuram. The deceased, Valentine, was a student at Rajadhani Institute of Engineering & Technology, Nagaroor.
Italy PM slams Left's double standards, says when Trump, Meloni, Modi talk, they are called threat to democracy
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has accused left-wing politicians of being "nervous" over former US President Donald Trump's victory, claiming that conservatives are unfairly labelled as a "threat to democracy" while leftist leaders are celebrated for similar global alliances.
NDRF intensifies rescue operation to save 8 trapped in Telangana tunnel
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams on Sunday intensified rescue efforts to save eight persons trapped in an under-construction tunnel after a portion of its roof collapsed in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district on February 22.
Israel delays Palestinian prisoner release after 'humiliating' hostage handovers
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that the release of Palestinian prisoners would be delayed until Hamas ceases its "humiliating ceremonies" during the release of Israeli hostages under the ceasefire deal.
PM Modi on 3-day visit to MP, Bihar, Assam from today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Assam from February 23 to 25 to participate in several developmental projects and inaugurate business summits.
US senators call out China for 'weaponising' UN 1971 resolution, vow support to Taiwan
The United States Senators accused China of subverting United Nations Resolution 2758 in an attempt to isolate Taiwan. The senators proposed a resolution in the Senate reaffirming US support for Taiwan. The resolution opposes China's attempt to prevent Taiwan's meaningful participation in international organisations.