Trump is reportedly furious at Nikki Haley for saying his female accusers 'should be heard'
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."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Political cartoons for November 8Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include narco boats, and the new Lincoln monument
-
Why Trump pardoned crypto criminal Changpeng ZhaoIn the Spotlight Binance founder’s tactical pardon shows recklessness is rewarded by the Trump White House
-
Sudoku medium: November 8, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Has Zohran Mamdani shown the Democrats how to win again?Today’s Big Question New York City mayoral election touted as victory for left-wing populists but moderate centrist wins elsewhere present more complex path for Democratic Party
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
