Nikki Haley Fun Pokes at Trump, and Herself, at Al Smith Dinner



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Nikki R. Haley joked about President Trump's braggadocio in his United Nations speech last month. Once, she said, she asked the Native American tribe as Senator Elizabeth Warren. And as a member of Mr. Trump's cabinet, she added, "It is a thrill to be out to dinner without being harbaded."

For about 17 minutes Thursday night in the New York Hilton ballroom, Ms. Haley, Mr. Trump's soon-to-be-leaving ambbadador to the United Nations, 700 guests at the annual Al Smith charity dinner, a high-powered event of the political and Roman Catholic elite hosted by Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan.

Haley, 46, a Republican star who is thought to have presidential ambitions – Trump, with whom she seems to have a good relationship .

Still, it remains unclear precisely why Ms. Haley is leaving her United Nations post after less than two years, and her monologue did nothing to provide answers.

But she joked about it. Having breakfast with Cardinal Dolan a few weeks ago to prepare for her speech, she told the crowd, "I asked, 'Was there anything I could do to really boost attendance?' And he said, 'Why do not you resign a UN ambbadador? "

Ms. Haley said the chair also called her with some advice.

"Just brag about my accomplishments," she quoted him as recommending. "It really killed at the U.N., I've got to tell you."

Ms. Haley is the daughter of immigrants from India, who grew up in the South and became South Carolina's first female governor and first minority governor. She had a little fun with that, too.

When the president first learned of her Indian heritage, she said, "He asked me if I was from the same tribe as Elizabeth Warren," the Democratic senator from Mbadachusetts who can challenge Mr. Trump in 2020. He has ridiculed Ms. Warren's claims of Native American ancestry.

The advantage of growing up as an Indian-American who experienced discrimination in South Carolina, Ms. Haley said, was "totally prepared for a Republican in New York."

Ms. Haley also chided The New York Times for This article was written in the last month of the month of June, when the Trump administration had spent more than $ 52,000 on curtains for her diplomatic residence. The curtains had been ordered by the Obama administration. (The Times corrected the article to make that clear.)

Purpose Ms. Haley was not satisfied. She joked that the newspaper had merely "changed the headline to 'Obama Creates High-Paying Jobs in the Curtain Industry."

Ms. Haley also complained about other fake headlines, including one that said the rapper Kanye West had been sworn in as her replacement. "Oh wait, that could really happen," she said.

Ms. Haley was introduced as guest speaker by the dinner of Jim Gaffigan, who said, "It's amazing how Nikki Haley has had this administration with such dignity."

Seated on the floor of the Hilton ballroom, Ms. Haley and her husband, Michael, were surrounded by powerful figures in New York government, finance, media, real estate and philanthropy. They included Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Mayor Bill of Blasio, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Senator Chuck Schumer, Secretary of State, Henry A. Kissinger, Financial Wall Street, Stephen A. Schwarzman, and Maria Bartiromo of Fox News and Jeff Glor of CBS News.

The keynote address by Ms. Haley was the first high-profile in the United States since she was resigning the ambbadador's post at the end of the year.

Her notice, which took many White House officials by surprise, immediately stirred recurring speculation that Ms. Haley might run for office again and possibly even challenge Mr. Trump. Ms. Haley emphatically denied such a prospect when she appeared with the President at the White House on Oct. 9 to formally announce her resignation.

On the contrary, Ms. Haley said it was intended for Mr. Trump's re-election. And Mr. Trump said he would like to return to work for him.

Despite her badurances of fealty to the President, Ms. Haley's departure from the administration will allow her to get away from it as she may be suffering from the Republicans in the November midterm elections, which are less than three weeks away.

Coming into the job with a little diplomatic experience, Ms. Haley has had a few years of experience. She has been seen as a steady voice in the midst of White House turnover and dysfunction.

The annual Alfred E. Smith Foundation Memorial dinner, has been formally known, has evolved into a prominent political showcase over its seven decades.

Its keynote speakers have included presidents, presidential candidates and diplomatic and cultural figures like Winston Churchill, Tony Blair, John F. Kennedy and Bob Hope.

The speakers often serve up self-deprecating jokes, coupled with messages of morality and the charitable work of the foundation, which this year raised $ 4 million for Catholic children's charities.

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