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.
-
Film reviews: ‘The Testament of Ann Lee,’ ’28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,’ and ‘Young Mothers’Feature A full-immersion portrait of the Shakers’ founder, a zombie virus brings out the best and worst in the human survivors, and pregnancy tests the resolve of four Belgian teenagers
-
Political cartoons for January 25Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include a hot economy, A.I. wisdom, and more
-
Le Pen back in the dock: the trial that’s shaking FranceIn the Spotlight Appealing her four-year conviction for embezzlement, the Rassemblement National leader faces an uncertain political future, whatever the result
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
