Trump says Nikki Haley ‘probably’ won’t be his running mate

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley is “probably” not going to be chosen as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate if he wins the Republican nomination, the former president told New Hampshire voters on Friday. 

The 77-year-old GOP presidential primary front-runner’s comments come on the same day Haley was overheard telling a Granite State voter that being Trump’s vice president was “off the table.”

“She was OK, but she was not presidential timber,” Trump said at a rally in Concord, referring to Haley’s tenure as ambassador to the United Nations during his administration. 

“Now when I say that, that probably means that she’s not going to be chosen as the vice president,” he added, leaving little doubt that he won’t be tapping Haley to be his No. 2. 

“When you say certain things, it sort of takes them out of play, right?” Trump continued. “I can’t say, ‘She’s not of the timber to be a vice president’ and then say, ‘Ladies and gentlemen I’m proud to announce that I’ve picked —’ do you understand?” 

The former president also revealed that one of the reasons he nominated Haley to serve in his Cabinet in 2016 was because he wanted South Carolina’s then-Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster to lead the Palmetto State. 

“By moving [Haley] someplace, Henry McMaster becomes governor of South Carolina,” Trump said of his thought process at the time.  

“He was with me all the way. I did him a favor,” Trump said of McMaster’s accession to the governorship in January 2017. 

Haley’s GOP primary rivals have long speculated that the White House hopeful is aiming for the spot below Trump on the 2024 GOP ticket. Haley has maintained she’s not in the race to come in second, but has not specifically said she would refuse Trump’s offer, arguing that such a proclamation would drive the news cycle “for days.”

Her clearest rejection of the idea to date came Friday in Amherst, where she was asked by a voter if she would pledge not to be Trump’s running mate. 

“I have said from the very beginning I don’t play for second, I don’t want to be anybody’s vice president. That is off the table,” Haley responded, according to Politico and the Washington Post.

“I have always said that. That is a game they play that I’m not going to play. I don’t want to be vice president,” she added.