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Nikki Haley, Trump's first challenger in the 2024 Republican primaries

The former South Carolina governor and Trump administration ambassador to the U.N. will file her candidacy on Feb. 15, according to The Post and the Courier of Charleston.

Donald Trump y Nikki Haley

(Cordon Press)

Published by
Alejandro Baños

"It is time for a new generation. It is time for more leadership. And it is time for the fact that we really start to take our country back." This is what Nikki Haley had to say in an interview conducted by Fox News on Jan. 20. Many speculated that these statements would foreshadow a run for president in the 2024 elections. That speculation has turned to reality, as The Post and the Courier of Charleston has reported the date that she will announce her candidacy.

On Feb. 15, Haley will appear in Charleston, S.C. to make a public announcement that she will run in the next presidential election. Those closest to her were already aware of the decision, according to sources. The Republican shared a post on her Twitter account confirming the day she will make her candidacy official.

Donald Trump's first rival

Donald Trump now has his first rival in the Republican primaries. Haley initially said she would back the former president and would not run against him. Haley worked under Trump when she was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (U.N.) during the Trump administration. She was also the first woman to be the governor of South Carolina, a role she held from 2011 to 2017.

Rumors suggested that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would be the first Republican to announce his intentions to challenge Trump in the Republican primaries. Other likely rivals are former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Months of consideration

Nikki Haley has been flirting with running for President of the United States for some time now. In November 2022, during the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting, she said:

If we decide to get into it, we’ll put 1,000 percent in and we’ll finish it. For now, I'll say this. I've won tough primaries and tough general elections. I've been the underdog every single time. ... When people underestimate me, it's always fun. But I've never lost an election. And I'm not going to start now. ...  If Biden succeeds in getting us back in the Iran deal, I will make you a promise. The next president will shred it — on her first day in office!

Last week, in the aforementioned Fox News interview, Nikki Haley said that the Republican Party could no longer be defeated in presidential elections:

Look, it is time for a new generation, it is time for more leadership. It is time for the fact that we really start to take our country back. We cannot have another term of Joe Biden. And we have to remember, too – we have lost the last seven out of eight popular votes for president. It is time that we get a Republican in there that can lead and that can win a general election.

"Go by your heart"

This Saturday, the former president confirmed that he had a conversation with Haley and let slip that his former ambassador to the U.N. had told him of her decision to run:

I talked to her for a little while. I said, "Look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run."

Donald Trump's kind words contrast with those of one of his former advisors, David Urban, who pointed out that announcing a candidacy so early is not the best of ideas:

There’s no benefit to being in early. You don’t want to be in the ring getting banged on by the former president in a one-on-one. There’s no reason anyone has to get in right now. There’s no urgency for anyone. Everyone is sitting and waiting.
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