Trump announces he WON’T be asking Mike Pompeo, Nikki Haley to join his administration

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Saturday night that former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will not be part of his upcoming administration. 

The announcement comes amid criticism from the more isolationist faction of the Republican Party, which has been wary of figures with more interventionist leanings. It also comes as Trump and his team are working to staff the administration with those who are loyal to the president-elect and his agenda, the New York Post reported.

Trump made the statement on Truth Social, saying, “I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation.”

“I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” he added.

The president-elect is in the early stages of forming his administration for his second term, with Susan Wiles recently named White House Chief of Staff, the first woman to hold the role under Trump. Trump has previously spoken about mistakes made during his first administration about some of his personnel choices. 

During the GOP primary campaign, Haley ran against Trump, asserting she would be a stronger candidate to defeat President Joe Biden. She later dropped out and, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed days before the election, endorsed Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris as “clearly the better choice.”

Pompeo, who served as both Secretary of State and CIA Director in Trump’s first term, maintained a lower profile during the recent campaign. However, he has been a polarizing figure among some conservatives, particularly those who favor isolationist foreign policy. Tucker Carlson has labeled Pompeo a “criminal,” accusing him of leading a CIA plot to assassinate WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Trump’s decision to exclude Haley and Pompeo appears influenced by advice from those seeking to align his administration more closely with the "America First" foreign policy approach. Republican strategist Roger Stone, in a recent post on his website, cautioned Trump against including Pompeo, stating, “Now that Trump is back on top, it becomes far more difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“If Pompeo is placed into the next Trump administration, his history shows he would promote the hegemony of the deep state rather than an authentic America First agenda,” Stone wrote on his website.