CHAPIN, S.C. – Nikki Haley received more Republican primary votes than anyone who challenged Donald Trump for this year's presidential nomination. She has said she's voting for him, and she released her delegates so they could support him at the Republican National Convention.
But unlike some of Trump's other GOP primary rivals, such as Vivek Ramaswamy and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, she hasn't been on the campaign trail supporting her party's nominee. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Haley has given Trump's campaign a list of dates on which she would be available to help him, but no appearances have been scheduled.
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Trump’s campaign did not respond to a message from The Associated Press asking why Haley, his former U.N. ambassador and a former South Carolina governor, had not campaigned with the nominee or how such conversations had gone. The person who confirmed that appearance dates had been offered spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to discuss logistics.
There was no love lost between Trump and Haley during the GOP primary, during which Haley repeatedly questioned the fitness for office of both Trump and President Joe Biden and called for cognitive tests for older politicians. Haley repeatedly warned that nominating Trump would land Democrat Kamala Harris in the White House, implying that Biden — then still in the race — would be unable to serve another term.
“We are going to have a female president of the United States, and either it will be me or it will be Kamala Harris,” Haley said as part of nearly every stump speech or media appearance, saying that “chaos” follows Trump.
Trump’s irritation only grew after Haley stayed in the race, becoming his last remaining primary rival.
“Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp,” Trump wrote on Truth Social following a Haley event in South Carolina in late January, using the nickname he crafted for Haley and the abbreviation for his “Make America Great Again” slogan.
When Haley did end her 2024 presidential campaign after the Super Tuesday contests, she waited two months to endorse Trump. In June, she released her delegates so that they were free to support him at the Republican National Convention. At the July gathering, to which Haley was a last-minute invite, she told her supporters, “You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him.”
She has said for months that she’s “on standby” to stump for Trump. She’s launched her own Sirius XM radio show, on which she frequently makes the case against electing Harris, and she has recorded robocalls for the campaign and made low-dollar fundraising appeals, according to her advisers.
Despite not being on the trail for Trump, Haley has made clear that she's supporting her party's nominee in the general election, even though some of her voters aren't as convinced. Harris' campaign launched “Republicans for Harris” to win over GOP voters put off by Trump's candidacy, with a particular emphasis on primary voters who backed Haley.
“Kamala Harris and I are total opposites on every issue,” Haley said in a statement Monday to the AP. “Any attempt to use my name to support her or her agenda is deceptive and wrong. I support Donald Trump because he understands we need to make America strong, safe, and prosperous.”
Not campaigning with Trump — but having endorsed him — may ultimately benefit Haley in a future campaign of her own, according to veteran Republican strategist Terry Sullivan.
“She wants to run again and wants to be able to have it both ways,” Sullivan said. “Have the never-Trumpers still like her but have the pro-Trump voters like that she endorsed him.”
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Associated Press writer Colleen Long in Washington contributed to this report.
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Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP