Thread by @Headsnipe011

Remarks by President Trump in Meeting with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley

***Just statement***

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whitehouse.gov/briefings-stat…

THE PRESIDENT: Okay, well, thank you very much everyone. Before we begin, I’ll just say that we’re very well prepared for the incoming hurricane. We have another coming. So we’ve done very well — North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico –so many places.

And we have another one coming, and a big one — much bigger than they anticipated a week ago, seven days ago. I heard, for the first time, there was a very small drop of weather that looked like it was forming. And now, it’s pretty close to a Cat 3, if it’s not already a Cat 3.

So we are very well prepared. FEMA is ready. We’re all ready. I spoke with Governor Scott, spoke to everybody that you have to speak to. And I think that hopefully we’ll get lucky, but maybe that won’t happen. But we’re prepared.

I wanted to do this because Nikki Haley, Ambassador to the United Nations, has been very special to me. She’s done an incredible job. She’s a fantastic person, very importantly — but she also is somebody that gets it.

She has been at the United Nations from the beginning with us — right from the beginning — and worked with us on the campaign. It’s been really a long time — very intense.

And she told me — probably six months ago, she said, “You know, maybe at the end of the year — at the end of a two-year period, but the end of the year — I want to take a little time off. I want to take a little break.”

She’s been a very successful, as you know, governor of South Carolina for eight years. And then she did this, and this is possibly even more intense —

AMBASSADOR HALEY: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: — with what’s going on in the world, and very dangerous, and a lot of things.

But she’s done a fantastic job, and we’ve done a fantastic job together. We’ve solved a lot of problems, and we’re in the process of solving a lot of problems. At the beginning, North Korea was a massive problem, and now we’re moving along. It’s moving along really nicely.

I can speak for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — he thinks the world of Nikki. And so we’re all — we’re all happy for you, in one way, but we hate to — you’ll — hopefully, you’ll be coming back at some point.

AMBASSADOR HALEY: (Laughs.)

THE PRESIDENT: But you want to just — in maybe a different capacity. You can have your pick.

But I just wanted to let you know — so at the end of the year, Nikki will be leaving. And we’ll be in constant touch, I know that. Whenever you have any ideas, you’re going to call me —

AMBASSADOR HALEY: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: — because you know all the players.

And that was really the thing I think she did best at the United Nations; she got to know the players. She got to know China, Russia, India.

She knows everybody on a very first-name basis. And they like her — except for maybe a couple, which is normal, right?

AMBASSADOR HALEY: (Laughs.)

THE PRESIDENT: They can’t all like you. But they do; they really like her. And I think, maybe more importantly, they respect her.

So, Nikki, I just wanted to tell you that we will miss you. We’ll be speaking all the time, but we will miss you nevertheless. And you have done a fantastic job. And I want to thank you very much.

AMBASSADOR HALEY: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Well, I want to say — first of all, I want to thank the President for just, you know, allowing us to come out and talk to you this way. It has been an honor of a lifetime.

You know, I said I am such a lucky girl to have been able to lead the state that raised me, and to serve a country I love so very much. It has really been a blessing, and I want to thank you for that.

But I’m most excited — look at the two years. Look at what has happened in two years with the United States on foreign policy. Now, the United States is respected. Countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do.

They know that if we say we’re going to do something, we follow it through. And the President proved that — whether it was with the chemical weapons in Syria; whether it’s with NATO —

saying that other countries have to pay their share; I mean, whether it’s the trade deals, which has been amazing. They get that the President means business, and they follow through with that.

But then if you look at just these two years at the U.N., we cut $1.3 billion in the U.N.’s budget. We’ve made it stronger. We’ve made it more efficient.

South Sudan — we got an arms embargo, which was a long time coming.

Three North Korean sanctions packages, which were the largest in a generation, done in a way that we could really work towards denuclearizing North Korea.

The Iran deal — bringing attention to the world that every country needs to understand you can’t overlook all of the bad things they’re doing; you have to see them for the threat that they are.

I think you look at the anti-Israel bias, and the strength and courage that the President showed in moving the embassy, and showing the rest of the world we will put our embassy where we want to put our embassy.

You know, all of those things have made a huge difference in the U.S. standing. But I can tell you that it’s — the U.S. is strong again. And the U.S. is strong in a way that should make all Americans very proud.

And I do want to say that it’s not just the President I want to thank. The family in general — the First Lady has been nothing but very, very kind to me.

I can’t say enough good things about Jared and Ivanka. Jared is such a hidden genius that no one understands.

I mean, to re-do the NAFTA deal the way he did. What I’ve done working with him on the Middle East Peace Plan — it is so unbelievably well done.

And Ivanka has been just a great friend. And they do a lot of things behind the scenes that I wish more people knew about because we’re a better country because they’re in this administration.

I also just have to say, certainly, thank you to my family. Michael is a saint. And my two little ones, I adore them.

And to Team U.S.-U.N. You know, they sacrificed a lot. They put a lot of time and energy into it. But they have a lot of heart, and really wanted to make America proud.

And so, with that, I’m not leaving until the end of the year. My goal is that we make sure that everything is in good place, and — for the next ambassador to come in. But it’s a great day in the United States. And I’m proud to have been part of a team.

Now, I don’t have anything set on where I’m going to go. I think that the main thing was — I was Governor for six years, and we dealt with the Hurricane, a thousand-year flood, a church shooting, a school shooting.

There was a lot. And then, to come in and do two years of Russia and Iran and North Korea — it’s been eight years of intense time, and I’m a believer in term limits.

I think you have to be selfless enough to know when you step aside and allow someone else to do the job. So, thank you, Mr. President —

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Nikki. I’m so proud of you.

AMBASSADOR HALEY: — it’s been an honor of a lifetime. And I will say this: For all of you that are going to ask about 2020; no, I’m not running for 2020. I can promise you what I’ll be doing is campaigning for this one.

So, I look forward to supporting the President in the next election.

THE PRESIDENT: That’s so good. Thank you, Nikki.

***There is a Q&A in the top link***