Trump is reportedly furious at Nikki Haley for saying his female accusers 'should be heard'

U.N. Ambassador NIkki Haley is not amused

(Image credit: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)

last updated 12 December 2017

The White House has been working to insulate President Trump from the #MeToo moment that has toppled prominent men at top levels of media, entertainment, and politics, given Trump's own roster of women accusing him of sexual misconduct and his hot-mic bragging about assaulting women on the Access Hollywood bus. The White House, which pushed back against the women who repeated their stories of being harassed by Trump on Monday, is "warily" watching political careers crumble on Capitol Hill, The Associated Press reports, and Trump's advisers were "stunned Sunday when one of the highest-ranking women in the Trump administration broke with the White House line and said the accusers' voices 'should be heard.'"

That woman, United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, tepidly defended the women's right to speak out on CBS News, and her "comments infuriated the president, according to two people who are familiar with his views," AP says. "Trump has grown increasingly angry in recent days that the accusations against him have resurfaced, telling associates that the charges are false and drawing parallels to the accusations facing Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore."

Trump is reportedly telling people in private that the tornado of accusations of sexual assault against powerful men is spinning out of control, and "some outside Republicans close to the president said they are increasingly uneasy about his ability to withstand a revived spotlight on his behavior toward women," The Washington Post reports. "A number of Trump associates are also wary of the potential political costs if the president goes on a sustained attack against his accusers," while others are more sanguine. "They think he's invincible on this issue, because he survived the Access Hollywood tape," a Republican strategist close to the White House told the Post. "He was literally caught on tape saying he does this — it was a big deal — and he still won."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.