Less than nine months ago, Trump tweeted, "The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!"
It must be remembered that Haley supported Marco Rubio during the GOP primary and stated, "What I see in Marco Rubio is that he brings out the best in people, but what I see in Donald Trump is that he brings out the worst in people."
But if a week in politics is a lifetime, nine months bears a new child.
Indeed, I can't imagine Ann Coulter is too happy. Last year, I ended up getting into a row with white supremacist Peter Brimelow after I criticized Coulter for calling Haley an immigrant when, in fact, she is South Carolina born and raised.
But Coulter might have the last laugh.
To start with, Haley has no foreign policy experience to speak of. It makes one wonder if Trump appointed Haley to this post because of her heritage and to give the Trump Administration the appearance of diversity in international forums such as the UN. But if Trump's appointment of her is just window dressing I doubt she will yield much influence in the development of his foreign policy.
Above all else, I wonder if Haley is going to get the Chris Christie treatment.
Trump is a man who likes to humiliate his subordinates. Naturally, this won't be confined to Haley. Mitt Romney is vulnerable should Trump offer him the Secretary of State post. But, of course, Trump holds a special scorn for women not named Ivanka Trump or Kellyanne Conway.
Nikki Haley is an intelligent and capable woman who didn't hesitate to criticize Trump, but was prepared to make her peace with him and make the often ugly compromises politics demands. Politics is give and take. But I believe Trump's appointment of Haley is the extent of his give. I have a feeling Haley is going to need every bit of her intelligence and capacity to survive her stint in the Trump Administration.
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