WASHINGTON, DC – In an exclusive interview with CBN News, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley says the United States will never trust Russia and Vladimir Putin. “We don’t trust Russia, we don’t trust Putin, we never will,” Ambassador Haley says. “They’re never going to be our friend. That’s just a fact.”
However, Haley, who conducted the interview at _CBN’_s DC Bureau ahead of her Monday night keynote address to Christians United for Israel, does acknowledge the need for dialogue. “What I do think is, whether it’s the President sitting down with [North Korea’s Dictator] Kim or whether the President sits down with Putin, those are things that have to happen. You can’t get to the end of the other side if you don’t have those conversations.”
Much of those discussions between the leaders happened in private, something that has brought criticism. But Ambassador Haley chalks it up to President Trump’s style.
“He did that with Kim. He’s done it with other leaders. He did it with President Xi of China and that’s just his way. He feels like he can get more out of them if he goes one-on-one like that. It’s his style. It’s the way he does it,” Haley does expect a bit of a different style going forward. “You’re going to see their next meetings are going to have people in them, the working groups are going to come together, all of those things. But he’s always thought just to create that genuine reality of the two of them talking, he feels like he needs to do it face-to-face.”
The president has faced criticism on numerous fronts, including from critics on the left who believe cabinet members should resign if their advice is disregarded by Trump. Haley has a different view. “I can tell you, I met with the President this morning for an hour. There were some things that he may have liked that I said and some things that he may not have liked what I said. But he asked me what my thoughts are and I tell him the truth but I tell him in private.”
Haley says with President Trump it’s been an open courteous communication process. “Regardless of whether I say something he likes or not, he’s respectful, he listens to it and we have a conversation about it. And that’s what everybody should want in their president is someone willing to hear the bad news.”
Ambassador Haley’s speech Monday night will focus on a full-throttled defense of Israel. Indeed, Haley is seen as a champion when it comes to defending Israel at the United Nations. Israel’s nemesis, Iran, is in the news after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned America that, "war with Iran is the mother of all wars."
“Iran has made, or has received their legitimacy by rhetoric,” Haley tells CBN News. “It has the Europeans and everybody that was involved in the Iran deal scared of what they might do. We don’t fall for that.”
President Trump posted on Twitter a warning to Iran’s president, saying he better not threaten America again or he’ll suffer the dire consequences. Haley says it was the right move. “The President was letting them know, don’t throw out threats against the United States because we take every threat seriously and you don’t want us to have to act on that. If you want to come to the table and work on a new Iran deal, we’ll be right there to talk to you. But you’re not going to threaten us to do it.” When asked if Iran’s regime is messing with the wrong president, Haley didn’t hesitate. “They absolutely did.”
North Korea is also getting a taste of dealing with the Trump administration. Ambassador Haley and White House officials want to see the complete verified denuclearization of North Korea.
“I think that North Korea understands the message. They just don’t like to hear it,” Haley says.
CBN News National Security Correspondent Erik Rosales reports North Korea has now begun to dismantle a key nuclear weapons testing but the road ahead seems to be an arduous one.
“North Korea has to understand, the international community, we’re not going to let up,” Haley tells CBN News. “We’re not going to loosen sanctions. We’re not going to do congratulatory statements until we see actions to stand by their words that they’re going to denuclearize and I think they’ve got some soul searching to do…we saw two leaders and the goal was, do they both have the political will to talk? And we saw that they do. Now the tough stuff starts.”
CBN News will have a full report on Ambassador Nikki Haley and her pro-Israel views on The 700 Club Tuesday morning.