Nikki Haley Resigns As Trump's U.N. Ambassador

U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley is resigning, according to two people familiar with her plans.

President Trump said Tuesday that he will make a “big announcement” in the Oval Office at 10: 30 a.m. about Haley, whom he called “my friend.”

Haley, the former Republican governor of South Carolina, was confirmed as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations shortly after Trump’s inauguration last year.

“Big announcement with my friend Ambassador Nikki Haley in the Oval Office at 10:30am,” Trump said on Twitter.

The people who confirmed Haley’s resignation, which caught many White House officials by surprise, were not authorized to speak about her plans and requested anonymity.

From the beginning of her tenure, Haley stood out as a fierce advocate of Trump administration policies, announcing the United States would be “taking names” of countries that did not support U.S. votes.

“She was critical in ushering in U.N. reforms in partnership with the secretary general, and she took a thoughtful approach to peacekeeping and national security issues,” said Peter Yeo, an official with the U.N. Foundation. “There certainly were great areas of contention between the United States and the U.N. But she played a very important and constructive role.”