(WSPA)—The New York Times is reporting that the State Department wants to approve U. S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley’s speeches beforehand. The former South Carolina governor has often been out in front of the rest of the Trump administration, so State Department diplomats are trying to make sure there’s a unified message to U.S. foreign policy.
Times reporters saw an email from the State Department, which urged Haley’s office to use “building blocks” that are written by the department to write her speeches. If her speech is going to be “substantively different from the building blocks, or if they are on a high-profile issue such as Syria, Iran, Israel-Palestine, or the DPRK,” (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea), her comments should be “re-cleared.”
Neither the State Department nor Haley’s office responded to requests for comment.
Haley is well-known for being outspoken. She first gained the attention that helped her get elected governor after she pushed for more on-the-record voting at the Statehouse, saying voice votes by lawmakers hid how they voted from their constituents. And as governor, she was not afraid to criticize lawmakers, regardless of their seniority or party affiliation.
Now as ambassador, she has spoken out even before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. For example, after a chemical weapons attack in Syria, she gave a speech at the U.N. in which she held up pictures of children who had been gassed and said Russia was complicit. Referring to Syria’s president, she said, “Assad has no incentive to stop using chemical weapons as long as Russia continues to protect his regime from consequences.
The Times reports that a White House aide, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, says Haley has not replaced Tillerson as the Trump administration’s “preferred voice on foreign affairs.”