Although former South Carolina gouverneur Nikki Haley secured only the third place in the first primary in Iowa, this time, according to preliminary polls, she holds a confident second place and is even very close to Donald Trump.

National polls show that her rating as a Republican presidential candidate steadily rose, moving now into second place.

It is important for Ukraine that she publicly advocates for military assistance to Kyiv.

Read more about Nikki Haley and how she has entered the US presidential race in the article by Oleh Pavliuk, European Pravda journalist – Nikki Haley main Trump's competitor. Candidate whose success is beneficial to Ukraine.

Republican Nikki Haley is the third child in the Randhawa family of migrants from Indian Punjab, settled in Bamberg, South Carolina.

Even during her school years, Nikki began helping her parents with their business — a small souvenir shop. The business grew over time into a large boutique.

Haley mastered accounting in college in South Carolina and, after several years of working for a company, returned to the family business as the financial director.

She also met her future husband, William Haley, during her first year in college.

Nikki Haley admitted that her political career was inspired by Hillary Clinton (from the Democratic Party!) during an event she attended.

"She said: when it comes to women participating in elections, everyone will tell you why you shouldn't do it, but those are precisely the reasons why you should do it. And I left there thinking, 'This is it. I'm running for election'," Haley recalled.

She was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004 and was re-elected in 2006 and 2008.

Haley decided to run for gouverneur of South Carolina in 2010 and beat much more experienced competitors.

So, at 38 years old, she became not only the first American of Indian descent elected gouverneur of South Carolina but also the youngest female leader of an American state at that time.

Before Donald Trump's presidency, she admitted that she had not been his fan. She later, however, accepted the offer to become the US ambassador to the UN, despite her limited experience in foreign policy and despite Trump calling her a "snake" for criticising him.

Haley did not depart much from Trump administration policy during her two years at the UN. She was remembered for harshly criticising North Korea and Iran, supporting the US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal. Her rhetoric regarding Russia, especially regarding interference in the 2016 presidential elections, was even sharper than in the White House.

After leaving the White House, Haley spoke warmly about the US president, even calling him a friend, although she cautiously criticised him for his reaction to the tragedy in Charlottesville or the family separation policy for migrants at the southern border.

This cautious criticism from Haley continued even after the Capitol riot in January 2021. "History will judge his actions after the election day harshly," she said in a lengthy interview with Politico at that time.

In 2021, Nikki Haley hinted that she wanted to run for the US president.

And although Trump remains the absolute leader in American primaries, even in his campaign, they began to seriously consider Haley as a competitor.

One area where Haley is trying to distance herself from Trump is foreign policy. More precisely, it is about the consistent support for Ukraine during the full-scale Russian invasion. However, this support also has its limits.