Haley talks Russia, Trump on Today Show

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley says President Donald Trump has never told her “don’t slam Russia” as she takes over the job of being America’s voice at the United Nations.

The former South Carolina governor made the comments in a sit down interview with NBC’s Today Show on Thursday morning, one of the first times Haley has spoken to the media since she was confirmed as UN ambassador in January.

Haley said she’s talked to Trump about controversial contacts between Russian officials and his presidential campaign and administration.

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn had to step down after a month on the job after misleading comments about his conversations with the Russian ambassador before Trump came into office, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any Russia-related investigations after his own conversations with the ambassador were revealed.

But Haley told Matt Lauer she was not disturbed by those revelations, especially now that she’s an ambassador herself.

“It’s an ambassador’s job to talk to everybody,” she said.

At the UN, Haley has been critical of Russia at times, including its bombing campaign in Syria. She said she hasn’t received any push back from the Trump White House for those comments.

“He’s let me do my job,” Haley said.

Haley also addressed Trump’s proposed travel ban for six Muslim-majority nations, shortly before a federal judge blocked the order from going into effect. She denied accusations that the order amounted to a “Muslim ban.”

“As the daughter of immigrants, I’m extremely sensitive” to the important role immigrants play in America, Haley said, “but these are countries with serious terrorist activity going on.”

“I don’t think we should ever ban anybody because of religion,” she said. “But we want to take a step back and temporarily pause travel until it’s proved the vetting we have in place is OK.”

Haley also declined to comment on so far unproven accusations leveld by Trump that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower.

Instead, she only said, “He’s our president, and I want him to be successful.”

Today will air more of the interview with Haley on Friday.

This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 7:59 AM with the headline "Haley talks Russia, Trump on Today Show."