Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, hit back at claims by others in Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday that she had prematurely announced a new round of sanctions against Russia.
Tensions within the Trump administration spilled into public view as confusion reigned over the president’s plans, less than two days after Haley declared the US would impose fresh sanctions against Russian companies accused of assisting Syria’s chemical weapons program.
Haley had initially said the additional sanctions would be rolled out on Monday, only to be contradicted by the White House amid reports that Trump had rejected taking any further punitive action against Moscow.
The White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters on Tuesday that a final determination had not been made on whether to levy any further sanctions against Russia, while adding that Haley had gotten “ahead of the curve” in previewing the policy.
“She’s doing a great job, she’s a very effective ambassador,” Kudlow said. “There might have been some momentary confusion about that.”
Haley fired back hours later, telling Fox News: “With all due respect, I don’t get confused.”
Kudlow later told the New York Times he had apologized to Haley and was “totally wrong” for suggesting she was confused.
“The policy was changed and she wasn’t told about it, so she was in a box,” he said.
Kudlow just told me he has spoken to Haley & apologized to her, saying he was "totally wrong" to call her confused & didn't have complete info. "The policy was changed & she wasn't told about it, so she was in a box."
— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) April 17, 2018
The opposing statements underscored the chasm between Trump and members of his foreign policy team just days after the US joined with the UK and France to launch coordinated airstrikes against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria. Haley, a vocal critic of Russia, excoriated Moscow’s role in propping up Assad at an emergency meeting of the UN national security council.
“We cannot stand by and let Russia trash every international norm that we stand for and allow the use of chemical weapons to go unanswered,” she said on Saturday, as a Russian resolution condemning the airstrikes was defeated by members of the security council.
The additional Russia sanctions were part of options presented to Trump following the airstrikes in Syria, which were intended to punish the Assad regime for carrying out a suspected chemical weapons attack that killed dozens in the Damascus suburb of Douma on 7 April.
Trump reportedly approved plans to impose the sanctions, only to reverse course on Sunday. The president has publicly expressed his desire to improve US-Russia relations, even as his approach has been met with scrutiny amid the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow.
Trump reluctantly expelled 60 Russian diplomats and suspected spies last month as part of a coordinated effort to retaliate against Moscow following the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on 4 March. The Washington Post reported on Monday that Trump felt “misled” over his administration’s response.