On Wednesday, NBC News’ Matt Lauer interviewed the new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, who sounded off on her opposition to Russia.
“Do you think that President Trump has a bit of a blind spot when it comes to Russia and Vladimir Putin?” Lauer asked. “Take your ambassador’s hat off for me for a second, though. As just a citizen, do you have any questions about the relationship between Donald Trump, his associates, and the Russians?”
“Take it seriously. We cannot trust Russia. We should never trust Russia,” Haley said on the TODAY show.
When asked about why Trump has been hesitant to condemn Russian President Vladimir Putin, Haley pointed to his open mindedness.
“He’s very open-minded about working with everyone. He doesn’t want to cut anyone off. What he has allowed me to do is when I see something wrong, I call them out on it,” Haley said, speaking about President Trump. “I will always do that. But, at the same time, if I see an opportunity to work on something with them, like we do with ISIS and Daesh, we will absolutely do that.”
Lauer asked Haley if she and Trump have the same level of trust for Putin.
“I would not say that, I’m not going to talk about where the president is, because I don’t know,” she responded.
During her first meeting at the U.N. as Ambassador, Haley criticized Russia for annexing Crimea.
“I consider it unfortunate that the occasion of my first appearance here is one in which I must condemn the aggressive actions of Russia,” she said.
“We do want to better our relations with Russia, however, the dire situation in eastern Ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions.”
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