Nikki Haley: Rex Tillerson, John Kelly tried to recruit me to undermine Donald Trump

Nikki Haley says Rex Tillerson and John Kelly undermined Donald Trump to ‘save the country.’

Nikki Haley with Donald Trump. Picture: AFP.

Donald Trump’s former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has accused two of the president’s former top advisers of seeking to recruit her in an attempt undermine Mr Trump in order to “save the country.”

In her memoirs released this week, Ms Haley says she was “shocked” to learn that former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former White House chief of staff John Kelly were seeking to undermine and subvert Mr Trump.

“Kelly and Tillerson confided in me that when they resisted the president, they weren’t being insubordinate, they were trying to save the country,” Ms Haley wrote in her explosive new book ‘With All Due Respect.’

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“It was their decisions, not the president’s, that were in the best interests of America, they said. The president didn’t know what he was doing,” Ms Haley wrote.

Ms Haley says the two men asked her to join them in their quest but she refused.

“[I]nstead of saying that to me, they should’ve been saying that to the president, not asking me to join them on their sidebar plan,” she said.

“Tillerson went on to tell me the reason he resisted the president’s decisions was because, if he didn’t, people would die….”

Rex Tillerson said if he didn’t resist Donald Trump, Americans would die. Picture: AFP)

In an interview Sunday Ms Haley said: “To undermine a president is really a very dangerous thing. And it goes against the Constitution, and it goes against what the American people want. And it was offensive.”

In another interview Ms Haley said she was “shocked” when the reality of what Tillerson and Kelly were doing sank in.

“I was so shocked I didn’t say anything going home because I just couldn’t get my arms around the fact that here you have two key people in an administration undermining the president.’

Mr Tillerson, Secretary of State from February 2017 until March 2018, disagreed with Mr Trump on a range of policy issues and was eventually sacked.

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said it was the least enjoyable job he had ever had. Picture: AFP.

Mr Kelly also argued with the president and described the job of presiding over a chaotic White House and a maverick leader as “the least enjoyable job I’ve ever had.”

Ms Haley, a former South Carolina Governor gained a reputation for being tough and hard-nosed in her advocacy for Mr Trump’s America First agenda during her tenure at the UN. She resigned her role in October 2018 and is believed to harbour longer term plans of running for president in 2024.

Mr Kelly, who was chief of staff from July 2017 until January this year was dismissive of Ms Haley’s claims.

“If by resistance and stalling (Mr Trump) she means putting a staff process in place … to ensure the (president) knew all the pros and cons of what policy decision he might be contemplating so he could make an informed decision, then guilty as charged,” Mr Kelly said. Mr Tillerson did not immediately comment.

Nikki Haley was United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Picture: AP.

Ms Haley, 47, does not use her book to criticise Mr Trump and says it was her responsibility to carry his wishes on foreign policy.

She said she agreed with many of the president’s policies from the US withdrawal from both the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Accord to the moving of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Ms Haley said she did not support the Democrat-led impeachment inquiry into the president.

She said Mr Trump was wrong to seek help from the Ukraine for a political investigation into a domestic political opponent but that the action was not an impeachable offence.

“There was no heavy demand insisting that something had to happen. So it’s hard for me to understand where the whole impeachment situation is coming from, because what everybody’s up in arms about didn’t happen,” she said.

“So, do I think it’s not good practice to talk to foreign governments about investigating Americans? Yes. Do I think the president did something that warrants impeachment? No, because the aid flowed,” she said.

Mr Trump ordered the withholding of almost $US400 million in US military aid to the Ukraine but released that aid several months later before the Ukraine had committed to any investigation.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia