United States President Donald Trump is the "CEO of the country, he can fire anyone he wants", America's envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, said on Monday while defending the president for firing the former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) chief James Comey.
Trump, last week, abruptly fired Comey from the top position citing his mishandling of the Hillary Clinton emails case last year. However, the former FBI Chief's sudden firing has raised suspicions that Trump may have done so as a cover-up for the Russia investigations.
Haley said she believed people who were criticising Trump were discomforted with his inclination to act on his decisions.
"The president is the CEO of the country," Indian-origin Haley told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" on Sunday. "He can hire and fire anyone he wants." Haley made the statement while responding to a question if she found herself having to explain to foreign diplomats about Trump's abrupt decisions on domestic policy.
"I think what you can see is that this is a president of action," she said. "The reason people are uncomfortable is because he acts."
Referring to reports that Trump had sought a loyalty pledge from Comey during a dinner meet, Stephanopoulos asked Haley if Trump also sought the same from her, to which Haley replied with a, "No." She, however, added that when she was a South Carolina's governor, demonstrations of "loyalty and trust" were important to her.
Haley was also asked whether she was concerned that she is being taped in Trump's proximity. "I assume I'm being taped everywhere." Shortly after Comey's firing, Trump had written a warning tweet to Comey threatening to release recorded "tapes" if he spoke to the media.
The FBI director had revealed in March that his agency was investigating possible links between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia, as Moscow sought to interfere in the US presidential elections last year
