In new memoir, Nikki Haley says Rex Tillerson and John Kelly discussed resisting Trump


In her new memoir With All Due Respect, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley writes that two one-time top officials within the Trump administration tried to undermine the president, The Associated Press reports.
In the book, out Tuesday, Haley claims that during a private meeting with then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, the men told her they were resisting President Trump's policy decisions. The officials felt they "weren't being insubordinate, they were trying to save the country," she writes. "It was their decisions, not the president's, that were in the best interests of America, they said. The president didn't know what he was doing. ... Tillerson went on to tell me the reason he resisted the president's decisions was because, if he didn't, people would die."
Haley said that she was "shocked" by what she heard, and thought they should have spoken to Trump about their concerns. "To undermine a president is really a very dangerous thing," she writes. "And it goes against the Constitution, and it goes against what the American people want. And it was offensive."
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.
Tillerson and Kelly both left the administration in 2018. In response to the book, Kelly told CBS News on Sunday that "if by resistance and stalling, she means putting a staff process in place ... to ensure [Trump] knew all the pros and cons of what policy decision he might be contemplating so he could make an informed decision, then guilty as charged."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot