Haley has maintained a relatively low profile since withdrawing from the 2024 Republican race.
Nikki Haley met with about 100 of her biggest donors this week to support her race for the Republican presidential nomination, marking her return to public life after her defeat at the hands of her archrival, former President Donald Trump. Officials have revealed that they are planning to take a new step towards this goal. The incident was confirmed to ABC News.
The retreat, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, will be held Monday and Tuesday in Charleston, South Carolina, not far from Haley's home in the state's lowlands.
Haley, a former U.N. ambassador under the Trump administration, often endorsed a former ally, now the likely Republican candidate, at meetings and asked donors to donate to other campaigns. There are no plans to do so yet. Rather, the event is being promoted as an opportunity for Haley to thank his backers for supporting him throughout his own campaign.
The decision not to support Trump is a major blow to her public persona, and speculation is mounting about the former South Carolina governor's next steps.
“It's up to Mr. Trump to win the votes, not just within his own party, but among those who didn't support him,” Haley told supporters on the day she withdrew, adding that the move leaves Haley in 2024. He was an outlier among 2017 Republican candidates. . Many of the Republicans who once challenged President Trump for the nomination immediately lined up behind him after finishing their races.
But while Haley has kept a relatively low profile since dropping out more than two months ago, she continues to collect hundreds of thousands of votes in Republican state primaries, most recently receiving 120,000 votes in Indiana. This is equivalent to approximately 22% of all constituencies. Vote.
Overall, Haley has received about 4 million votes so far, about 20% of the total votes cast so far.
Haley's name briefly surfaced as a potential running mate for Trump on Saturday following an Axios report that appeared to confirm her candidacy, but Trump and his campaign have not confirmed the rumor. I immediately objected.
Shortly after the rumors surfaced, President Trump posted on his social media platforms: “Nikki Haley is not being considered as a running mate, but I wish her the best.”
But what awaits her politically in President Trump's majority party remains unclear.
Last month, Haley was named chairman of the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank. In a statement announcing his appointment, Haley said his mission is to “defend the principles that make America the greatest nation in the world.”
In recent weeks, she has started posting actively on social media again, criticizing President Joe Biden's response to the Israeli war in Gaza and protesting on-campus university protests in solidarity with civilians in Gaza. , but makes no mention of President Trump or his campaign to defeat Biden. .
In the final days of the campaign, Ms. Haley painted the stakes of the Republican primary in increasingly stark terms, telling the Wall Street Journal in late February that nominating Mr. Trump as the leading Republican candidate would be “unlikely.” He said it would be “suicidal for our country.” She called Trump “unqualified” after the president made derogatory comments about her husband's military record.
Even though she was no longer a candidate, Haley kept her campaign finances healthy to the end, with $7.8 million in cash on hand for major campaign committees and an additional $1,170, according to records filed with the newspaper. He concluded his candidacy by providing $1,000 to the Community Chest Committee. FEC. Ms. Haley's leadership PAC also reported in April that it had about $3.4 million in the bank.
She is now eligible to convert the funds into a new political super PAC or transfer them to an existing PAC network she has already created, but there are questions about how these funds will be used going forward, if any. However, it has not been shown yet. A few months.
ABC News' Hannah Demissie contributed to this report.
