April 17 :
On April 15, the conservative think group Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. announced that former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley would be joining as the Walter P. Stern chair. Adding to Hudson is the former U.S. ambassador to the UN and the former governor of South Carolina, who was named the fourth member of Trump's cabinet to do so by The Guardian.

Global security suffers when our leaders downplay the significance of our partnerships and refuse to name our opponents. In a statement, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina emphasised the important nature of Hudson's work. "They think that in order to ensure a safe, free, and prosperous future for all Americans, the American people need to have access to information, and that lawmakers should have access to solutions. In protecting the values that have made the United States of America the best nation on Earth, I am excited to work alongside them.

She will be able to maintain a significant profile while considering a second presidential candidature for 2028, according to The Hill.

According to John P. Walters, president and chief executive officer of Hudson, Haley is "a proven, effective leader on both foreign and domestic policy." He praised Haley, saying that she had "remained a steadfast defender of freedom and an effective advocate for American security and prosperity" in the face of the "worldwide political upheaval."

Despite taking first place in Vermont and the District of Columbia, Haley decided to stop her presidential candidature in March following a crushing defeat in the Super Tuesday primaries. Haley had positioned herself as the greatest chance to move on from the last administration while campaigning. The candidate spent the last weeks of her campaign railing against Trump and Biden, highlighting their ages, and urging the next generation of leaders to reject them. She brought up polls showing that, in hypothetical general election matchups against Biden, she performed better than any of the other leading Republican presidential candidates.

She also attacked Vice President Kamala Harris, telling the people of South Carolina that one of them—Haley or Harris—would soon be president of the United States. Throughout the campaign, she levelled multiple attacks against Trump, citing his foreign policy positions and the growing national debt as examples. She said, "Chaos follows Trump." twice.

Although, as pointed out by NPR, there were moments when she "seemed to struggle with her messaging as she straddled the difficult line between pleasing the Republican base and appealing to independents, moderate Republicans and other voters who are disenchanted with Trump." When asked about the origins of the Civil War during a campaign stop in New Hampshire, she made the famous mistake of not naming slavery as the cause. But she turned around and hurried back.

In her reaction to a contentious decision by the Alabama Supreme Court that jeopardised access to the IVF fertility technique, she likewise faltered. To her, "Embryos are babies," she explained to Ali Vitali of NBC. "You don't want to take those fertility treatments away from women," she explained in a subsequent interview with Newsman.

When she began to gather substantial traction towards the end of last year, it caught many by surprise. She was unable to surpass the former president, who is the presumed Republican candidate for president, even though she outpaced Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in most surveys.

Nikki Haley Joins Washington Think Tank Following Unsuccessful Presidential Bid, Eyes 2028