Nikki Haley to resign as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations

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WASHINGTON — In an unexpected development, President Donald Trump’s U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, plans to resign.

In an Oval Office announcement Tuesday morning, Trump and Haley confirmed that she would depart the administration at the end of the year.

“We’re all happy for you in one way, but hate to lose you,” Trump said, sitting alongside the ambassador. “At the end of the year, Nikki will be leaving.”

Haley said serving as U.N. ambassador has been “the honor of a lifetime.” She said she didn’t know what’s next for her, but that she would support Trump in 2020.

She also touted her accomplishments, such as North Korea sanctions packages and getting NATO members to pay their share.

“Now, the United States is respected,” she said.

Trump declined to say who might replace Haley as ambassador to the U.N. — saying he would name a successor in two or three weeks — but noted he had heard from a number of people who would like the job.

Axio was first to report the news of Haley’s plan to resign.

Oct.09.201800:03

In September, Haley wrote in The Washington Post that she felt compelled to respond to the anonymous opinion article published in The New York Times, in which an unnamed senior official claimed to be part of a “resistance” within the Trump administration attempting to thwart “parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.”

In her opinion piece for The Post, she wrote, “I, too, am a senior Trump administration official. I proudly serve in this administration, and I enthusiastically support most of its decisions and the direction it is taking the country.”

“But I don’t agree with the president on everything,” she added. “When there is disagreement, there is a right way and a wrong way to address it. I pick up the phone and call him or meet with him in person.”

House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Twitter that Haley “has been a clear, consistent, and powerful voice for America’s interests and democratic principles on the world stage.”

“I am saddened that she is leaving the administration, but so grateful for her service,” he wrote.

Haley, the Republican former governor of South Carolina who is considered a rising star within the party, was confirmed to her U.N. post in January 2017 by the Senate with bipartisan support, 96-4.

This is a breaking news story, please check back for updates.