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Trump’s last GOP rival lands new gig after failed 2024 presidential bid

Trump’s last GOP rival lands new gig after failed 2024 presidential bid

Nikki Haley, who was the final rival to former President Trump in the Republican nomination race before ending her White House bid last month, is joining a leading conservative think tank known for focusing on international affairs and national security. Haley, the former two-term South Carolina governor who served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, is joining the Washington, D.C.-based Hudson Institute. “Nikki is a proven, effective leader on both foreign and domestic policy,” Hudson President and CEO John P. Walters said in a statement Monday. “In an era of worldwide political upheaval, she has remained a steadfast defender of freedom and an effective advocate for American security and prosperity. We are honored to have her join the Hudson team.” During her White House bid, Haley advocated a muscular U.S. foreign policy to deal with global hot spots such as the war between Russia and Ukraine and the fighting between Israel and Hamas, often offering a stark contrast with Trump’s American First agenda of keeping the nation out of international entanglements. WHAT KIND OF FUTURE DOES HALEY HAVE IN A TRUMP DOMINATED GOP? Haley traded fire over America’s overseas role with rival Vivek Ramanswamy, an advocate of Trump’s America First philosophy, during the GOP presidential primary debates.  “When our policymakers fail to call out our enemies or acknowledge the importance of our alliances, the world is less safe. That is why Hudson’s work is so critical,” Haley said. “They believe the American people should have the facts and policymakers should have the solutions to support a secure, free, and prosperous future. I look forward to partnering with them to defend the principles that make America the greatest country in the world.” HALEY ENDS HER WHITE HOUSE BID BUT DECLINES TO ENDORSE TRUMP Haley, who received the Hudson Institute’s global leadership award in 2018 during her tenure as U.N. ambassador, will serve as the institute’s Walter P. Stern Chair. According to the Hudson Institute, the position was created four years ago to commemorate a former chair “who was instrumental in making Hudson one of Washington’s most respected research organizations.” The institute emphasized that “it is fitting that Nikki has taken on this title” because “she is a courageous and insightful policymaker.” Haley launched her presidential campaign in February of last year, becoming the first major candidate to challenge Trump, who had announced his candidacy three months earlier. Additionally, she was the final rival to Trump, battling the former president in a two-candidate showdown from the New Hampshire primary in late January through Super Tuesday in early March. Haley announced that she was suspending her White House campaign on March 6, the day Trump swept 14 of 15 GOP nominating contests on Super Tuesday. However, Haley made it clear when she exited the Republican presidential nomination race that she intends to keep speaking out. “While I will no longer be a candidate, I will not stop using my voice for the things I believe in,” she emphasized as she spoke at her presidential campaign headquarters on Daniel Island, in her hometown of Charleston. To date, Haley has declined to endorse Trump. “It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. And I hope he does that,” Haley said last month, as she pointed to those who supported her during her White House run. “This is now his time for choosing,” she emphasized. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Biden to host Iraq’s leader after Iran’s attack on Israel spurs chaos across the Middle East

Biden to host Iraq’s leader after Iran’s attack on Israel spurs chaos across the Middle East

President Biden is set to host Iraq’s leader this week for talks after Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend. U.S. forces in Iraq were specifically credited with helping shoot down Iranian missiles that were intending to strike Israel. Monday’s meeting between Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Iraqi Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani is expected to address regional stability and the viability of keeping an American military presence in Iraq, through which portions of Iran’s Saturday drone and missile attack on Israel flew or were launched from. The meeting is also expected to include discussions of economic, trade and energy issues, according to U.S. officials. The U.S. leaders could also discuss future U.S. troop deployments. “It is not the primary focus of the visit … but it is almost certainly going to come up,” one senior U.S. official told The Associated Press. US DESTROYED MORE THAN 80 DRONES, AT LEAST 6 BALLISTIC MISSILES FROM IRAN AND YEMEN U.S. Central Command said in a statement that U.S. European Command destroyers supported U.S. forces while they engaged and destroyed more than 80 one-way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles and at least six ballistic missiles. This included a U.S. Patriot battery in Irbil, Iraq, knocking down at least one Iranian ballistic missile, The Associated Press reported, citing American officials. The White House initially announced al-Sudani’s visit to Washington last month. IRAN CLAIMS TO FOLLOW DRONE LAUNCH AT ISRAEL WITH BALLISTIC MISSILE BARRAGE The leaders will “consult on a range of issues,” including the fight against the Islamic State and “ongoing Iraqi financial reforms to promote economic development and progress toward Iraq’s financial independence and modernization,” the White House said. The U.S. and Iraq began formal talks in January about ending the regional coalition initially created to help the Iraqi government fight ISIS. Some 2,000 U.S. troops remained in the country under an agreement with Baghdad. The two countries have a delicate relationship due in part to Iran’s considerable sway in Iraq, where a coalition of Iran-backed groups brought al-Sudani to power in October 2022. The U.S. in recent months has urged Iraq to use its influence in Iran to help prevent attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria that have escalated in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Iran’s attack on Israel further underscored U.S. concerns. Al-Sudani came to power in late 2022. Since then, al-Sudani has attempted to maintain a balancing act between Iran and America despite being seen as being close to Tehran. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Colorado House passes semiautomatic firearm ban that faces uphill battle in State Senate

Colorado House passes semiautomatic firearm ban that faces uphill battle in State Senate

Colorado’s Democratic-controlled House on Sunday passed a bill that would ban the sale and transfer of semiautomatic firearms, a major step for the legislation after roughly the same bill was swiftly killed by Democrats last year. The bill, which passed on a 35-27 vote, is now on its way to the Democratic-led state Senate. If it passes there, it could bring Colorado in line with 10 other states — including California, New York and Illinois — that have prohibitions on semiautomatic guns. But even in a state plagued by some of the nation’s worst mass shootings, such legislation faces headwinds. NRA CALLS CHUCK SCHUMER’S LATEST GUN BILL ‘ATTACK’ ON CONSTITUTION Colorado’s political history is purple, shifting blue only recently. The bill’s chances of success in the state Senate are lower than they were in the House, where Democrats have a 46-19 majority and a bigger far-left flank. Gov. Jared Polis, also a Democrat, has indicated his wariness over such a ban. Last year, a similar bill died in committee, with some Democratic lawmakers citing concerns over the sweep of a ban and promises they made to their constituents to avoid government overreach affecting most gun owners’ rights. Democrats last year passed and Polis signed into law four less-expansive gun control bills. Those included raising the age for buying any gun from 18 to 21; establishing a three-day waiting period between the purchase and receipt of a gun; strengthening the state’s red flag law; and rolling back some legal protections for the firearms industry, exposing it to lawsuits from the victims of gun violence. Those laws were signed months after five people were killed at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs last year. Soon, the state will mark the 25th anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting that killed 13 people. Other mass shootings in Colorado include 12 people killed in 2012 at an Aurora movie theater and 10 people killed in 2021 at a Boulder supermarket. “This is the state where the modern era of the mass shooting began with Columbine,” Democratic Rep. Javier Mabrey said in urging fellow lawmakers to join other states that ban semiautomatic weapons. Republicans decried the legislation as an onerous encroachment on the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. They argued that mental illness and people who do not value life — not guns — are the issues that should be addressed. People with ill intent can use other weapons, such as knives, to harm others, they argued. Democrats responded that semiautomatic weapons can cause much more damage in a short period of time. “In Aurora, when the shooter walked in that theater and opened fire,” Mabrey said, “and in less than 90 seconds shot up a room full of people. That cannot be done with a knife, that can’t be done with a knife.”