Nikki Haley—the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who quit the Trump administration last year—offered up an unequivocal defense of her former boss Tuesday morning, insisting President Donald Trump is a “truthful” leader who is perfectly suited to high office. Appearing live on NBC’s Today show, Haley told Savannah Guthrie she “never” had any reason to doubt the fitness of Trump to serve, his mental acuity, or ability to tell the truth. “I never had any concern on whether he could handle the job, ever... In every instance that I dealt with him he was truthful, he listened, and he was great to work with.” Haley also defended Trump as being “stronger on Russia than any previous president,” despite claiming in her new book that she was the only person in the administration who confronted Trump after his widely criticized press conference with President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki last year. “I said, ‘Look, this sounded soft,’ and he said, ‘Really?’ and John Kelly was in the room and he looked at John and said, ‘All of you guys said I did great.’”
