The Donald Trump-Nikki Haley relationship feels like a love-hate thing.
Haley, who of course served as then-President Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations after serving as the Governor of South Carolina, also ran against Trump in this year’s Republican primary.
The primary race was contentious and turned into mostly name-calling and finger pointing.
Fast forward to today, and Haley has come forward to endorse Trump in the race against Kamala Harris, but has remained largely out of the campaign spotlight.
But Trump has cleared up Haley’s role in his team’s campaign. And it’s not what you think.
During a Friday appearance on “Fox & Friends”, Trump appeared frustrated with the growing calls for Haley to join his campaign.
“I’ll do what I have to do,” Trump said when asked if he would call Haley and ask her to campaign for him.
But Trump quickly pivoted and pointed out that Haley may not be right for his campaign in his eyes.
“But let me just tell you: Nikki Haley and I fought, and I beat her by 50, 60, 90 points. I beat her in her own state. … I beat Nikki badly,” Trump said. “I beat everyone else, too — badly. Frankly I set records. Both in speed and in the magnitude of the win. Everybody keeps saying that. They don’t say get Ron [DeSantis]. And Ron did very well.
“And they keep talking about Nikki, Nikki. I like Nikki. Nikki, I don’t think, should have done what she did, and that’s fine that she did it,” Trump said, referring to Haley’s decision to run against him. “But even in her own state — in South Carolina, where she was the governor — I beat her by a number. … And then they say, ‘Oh when is Nikki coming back in?’ Nikki is in. Nikki is helping us already.”
It was reported by The Hill that Trump’s team was in talks with Haley to join him on the campaign trail toward the end of the month, but that details had not been fully worked out.
And based on Trump’s appearance on Fox today, he’s not completely sold.
Kamala Harris’s campaign has attempted to court Haley voters and other disaffected Republicans who are skeptical of voting for Trump in November.
Harris has rolled out endorsements from several Republicans and has appeared in battleground states with prominent GOP Trump critics including former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).
In the meantime, Haley is staying busy.
Last month Haley launched her own radio talk show on SiriusXM that airs once a week at least through the inauguration of a new president.
The show does interviews, takes listener calls and talks politics on the show, which is carried Wednesdays from 8 to 9 a.m. ET on the satellite radio system’s Triumph channel.