How Donald Trump Picking Nikki Haley for Vice President Would Unfold

Nikki Haley has seen a recent boost in the presidential polls, elevating her standing among GOP voters thanks to strong debate performances, but she continues to trail Donald Trump's massive lead by double digits.

The surging campaign she's running, however, has raised questions about whether Trump would choose her as his running mate on the 2024 ticket. Haley, a rare woman of color in the GOP, has been able to appeal to more moderate voters whom the former president has alienated. Her foreign policy experience as Trump's U.N. ambassador has also earned her praise as an outlier within the crowded primary field.

But a Trump-Haley ticket would require significant concessions from both candidates, political experts say. Having vocally attacked one another, the former president and former South Carolina governor would have to put aside their public fighting and show voters that their harsh criticism of each other shouldn't stop them from running together for the White House.

"While that criticism is not a disqualification from a potential 'ask' to serve on the ticket...it does complicate matters," GOP consultant Matt Klink told Newsweek.

Republican strategist Alex Patton said that while the scenario is possible, it would take a lot for Trump and Haley to patch up their broken relationship.

"Haley would have to grovel, and at this point I believe she would be unwilling to do so," Patton told Newsweek. "Trump will likely pick some sycophant who will feign undying fidelity to him, and I don't believe Nikki Haley is that person at this point. Nikki Haley has done that, been there and moved on."

Klink agrees, saying that Haley is too focused on the top office to consider taking second place to Trump at this point in the race. Asked in August whether she'd consider being vice president, Haley told Politico, "I don't run for second."

She went on: "That's something that I hear all the time, and I'll tell you that, look, we have a country to save and I don't trust anybody else to do it," Haley said.

Newsweek reached out to Haley's campaign via email for comment.

Ahead of Wednesday's third GOP presidential debate, the former governor has seen a bump in the polls. A CBS News survey released this week showed that support for Haley has swelled to 23 percent from August's 14 percent.

The latest New York Times/Siena College survey found Haley outperforming Trump in head-to-head matchups with President Joe Biden in six key swing states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Because Haley's campaign is gaining momentum and because she's been able to move toward second place in a multi-candidate primary race, she needs to keep her eyes on the presidency so she has a real chance to thin out the GOP field and go on to compete head-to-head with Trump, Klink said.

"She wouldn't entertain talk of the second slot at this time—and maybe not ever— because she believes she can win the nomination," he added.

Political consultant Jay Townsend echoed that view, telling Newsweek that while he could see Trump choosing Haley if he believed she could help his campaign carry a swing state, Haley would be highly unlikely to accept. Furthermore, he said, they'd make an unstable ticket given their rocky relationship.

"A Trump-Haley Ticket would be a shotgun marriage made under the duress of both," Townsend said. "It would be severely strained during the campaign and bound to fall apart after the election."

At the same time, Klink said Trump is likely to look elsewhere for a vice president, specifically governors who are not running for the presidency. Among the names that have been floated for his running mate is South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, whom Politico described as being "front and center in the veepstakes" in September.

"Speculation about who Donald Trump would select as his running mate [is] interesting but premature," Klink said.

Despite Trump's lead, the Iowa caucuses don't happen until January, he added, and most presidential nominees don't name their running mate until the summer convention.

"The 2024 election is still young," Klink said.