As Democrats court Haley supporters, the former UN ambassador is still waiting to hear from Trump

CHAPIN, SC (AP) — Nikki Haley received more Republican primary votes than anyone challenging Donald Trump for this year presidential candidate nomination. She has said she is voting for him, and she released her delegates to 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 has not been on the campaign trail to endorse her party’s nominee. According to a person familiar with the situation, Haley has provided Trump’s campaign with a list of dates she would be available to help him, but no appearances have been scheduled.

Trump’s campaign did not respond to a message from The Associated Press asking why Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations and a former South Carolina governor, had not campaigned with the nominee or how such talks had gone. The person who confirmed meeting 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, with Haley repeatedly questioned his fitness for office by both Trump and President Joe Biden and called for cognitive tests for elderly politicians. Haley repeatedly warned that nominating Trump would land Democrat Kamala Harris in the White House, suggesting that Biden – then still in the race – would not be able to serve another term.

“We’re going to have a female president of the United States, and it’s either going to be me or it’s going to be Kamala Harris,” Haley said as part of nearly every stump speech or media appearance, saying “chaos” follows Trump.

Trump’s irritation only grew after Haley stayed in the race, becoming his last remaining primary rival.

“Anyone who makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain will from this moment be permanently banned from the MAGA camp,” Trump wrote on Truth Social after a Haley event in South Carolina in late January, using that nickname , he made for Haley and the acronym for his “Make America Great Again” slogan.

When Haley ended her 2024 presidential campaign after the Super Tuesday contests, she waited two months to endorse Trump. In June, she released his delegates so they could freely support him at the Republican National Convention. At the July gathering, to which Haley was a last-minute invite, she was told his followers“You don’t have to agree with Trump 100% of the time to vote for him.”

She has said for months that she is “on standby” to run into Trump. She has launched her own Sirius XM radio show, where she frequently speaks out against electing Harris, and she has recorded campaign robocalls and low-dollar fundraising appeals, according to her advisers.

Despite not rooting for Trump, Haley has made it clear she supports her party’s candidate in the general election, even if some of her constituents aren’t so convinced. Harris’ campaign launched “Republicans for Harris” to win over GOP voters turned off by Trump’s candidacy, with a particular emphasis on primary voters who supported Haley.

“Kamala Harris and I are complete opposites on every issue,” Haley said in a statement Monday to the AP. “Any attempt to use my name to support his or her agenda is misleading and wrong. I support Donald Trump because he understands that we must make America strong, secure and prosperous.”

Not campaigning with Trump — but having endorsed him — could 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. “The never-Trumpers still liked her, but 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