President-elect Donald Trump has chosen South Carolina governor Nikki Haley as US ambassador to the United Nations, the first woman tapped for a top-level administration post during his transition to the White House.
Two sources familiar with the decision, who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorised to discuss it by name ahead of the announcement, also said that the ambassadorship will be a cabinet-level position.
Haley, an outspoken Trump critic throughout much of the presidential race, would become his first female – and first non-white – cabinet-level official if confirmed by the Senate. She's the second Asian-American to serve as a US governor.
Not all presidents have treated the ambassadorship to the UN as a cabinet-level position, and Republicans have tended not to grant that status.
Haley's new job clears the way for Lt Gov Henry McMaster to step into the role of South Carolina governor. McMaster was an early Trump endorser, backing him before the state's GOP primary in February.
At the time, Haley campaigned for Florida senator Marco Rubio, before going on to support Texas senator Ted Cruz. Despite misgivings about Trump, she met with the President-elect last week at Trump Tower. Afterward, Haley said they'd had a “very nice” conversation.
She brings limited international experience to one of the US government's most important international assignments. Almost all of her exposure on the world stage has been in pursuit of luring jobs to South Carolina.
Her trips abroad to lure jobs include a 2015 secretive trip to Sweden, which was followed weeks later by an announcement that Volvo would build its first US auto plant in South Carolina in exchange for more than $200 million in state incentives.
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