Once a Trump critic, Haley casts herself as his top diplomat

United Nations

Before and after he became US president, Donald Trump made it pretty clear that he didn't see much value in the United Nations. So when he named Nikki Haley as his choice for UN ambassador, many wondered whether he was simply shunting a tough critic into a trivial post.

In the past week, Ms Haley has made it increasingly clear that she has no intention of being sidelined. To the contrary, as diplomats at the UN saw it, she managed to elbow herself into a leading, outspoken role in the Trump administration.

On Wednesday, wielding pictures of dead Syrian children, she was the first senior official in the administration to warn that the US could take unilateral action against Syria's president for the chemical attack that killed more than 80 p…