LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nikki Haley criticized Donald Trump on Saturday for praising foreign strongmen and warned that his style of “chaos, vendettas and drama” would be dangerous, offering her harshest criticism of the former president as the Both Republican presidential candidates and their rivals turned to an influential group of Jewish Republicans.
“Eight years ago, it was good to have a leader who broke things,” Haley said of Trump. “But right now we need a leader who also knows how to get things under control again.”
Haley, a former United Nations ambassador, drew on her foreign policy experience as she made the case for longstanding Republican ideas on foreign policy at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual meeting in Las Vegas. Another Republican foreign policy traditionalist and regular Trump critic, former Vice President Mike Pence, used his appearance to end his candidacy, the latest sign of the former president’s dominance in the primaries.
Republican presidential candidates unanimously supported Israel’s offensive against Hamas on Saturday, resolving differences over whether the U.S. should support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
Support for Israel is a central theme in the Republican primaries, particularly among influential evangelical Christians in Iowa, where the first Republican primary is being held.
Trump, the absolute front-runner in the 2024 race, did not acknowledge Haley, Pence or the others who spoke before him. Instead, he praised his own record in the White House. He boasted that if elected president again, he would restore “peace through strength” and “stop World War III.”
He received thunderous applause, cheers and multiple standing ovations.
This year’s summit, running from Friday to Sunday, comes as Israel responds to Hamas militants who killed hundreds of civilians in an Oct. 7 attack. The candidates took the stage in Las Vegas, hours after Israel expanded its ground operation into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, expanding the war into a new phase of fighting. Israel continued to bombard the enclave of 2.3 million people with air strikes that disrupted communications and led to warnings of heavy civilian casualties.
Pence did not mention Trump when he announced he was dropping out of the race. But he called on President Joe Biden to unconditionally support Israel. He urged the crowd at the summit to “hold fast” to faith, family and the U.S. Constitution, and he emphasized America’s role “as leader of the free world.”
Haley mentioned Trump by name and said he was a “pro-Israel president,” but then continued: “The question is, what will he do in the future?”
She noted Trump’s comments days after the Hamas attack, when he advocated for taking strong action against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and called the militant group Hezbollah “very smart.” Haley also noted Trump’s repeated praise for the autocratic leaders of China and North Korea.
“These are not good or smart people,” Haley said.
Trump received the same enthusiastic reception he usually receives from the Republican Jewish Coalition, declaring, “I’m proud to be the best friend Israel has ever had.”
And despite Haley’s comments just before his speech, Trump continued to praise Hungary’s far-right autocratic Prime Minister Viktor Orban, calling him “a very strong man.”
“China respected us. Russia respected us. Everyone respected us. “Under my presidency, our country was very, very feared and very, very respected,” he said.
Even though the approximately 1,000 coalition donors no longer used the word “Trump” as in previous years, their support for him was evident early on. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has made criticism of Trump a focus of his campaign, took the stage and was immediately met with boos.
The organization’s longtime benefactor, billionaire casino mogul and GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson, became a major Trump supporter and implored coalition members in 2016 to support Trump.
Adelson died in 2021. His widow, Miriam Adelson, remains a major donor to the party but has pledged to remain neutral in the primary.
In their remarks, most candidates pledged their strong support to Israel. Many of the candidates blamed Biden for transferring $6 billion to Iran as part of a deal to free five U.S. citizens imprisoned in Iran, and criticized Democratic officials and liberals for what they said was anti-Semitism had not sufficiently condemned.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Pence and Haley have criticized as inexperienced and misguided on foreign policy, drew boos when he said America’s job was to be “strong at home, minding our own business and foreign militaries.” “To avoid entanglements that have no direct connection to our homeland here.”
But he was cheered throughout most of his speech, including when he claimed he would “love nothing more” than for the Israeli military to “put the heads of the top 100 Hamas leaders on the stakes and put them on the Israeli side.” would. Border with the Gaza Strip.”
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pointed to the official actions he has taken to show his support for Israel, from promoting charter flights for Americans from Israel to ordering state universities to ban a pro-Palestinian student group .
South Carolina Senator Tim Scott accused liberal politicians of failing to speak sufficiently about the marginalization and oppression of Jewish Americans.
When Scott met U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. addressed, the crowd booed. The only Palestinian American in Congress has called for a ceasefire and a reassessment of US military aid to Israel over fears it could be used to commit war crimes. She was widely criticized by members of both parties who said she did not explicitly blame Hamas for the attack.
Scott said of Democrats: “They would rather welcome anti-Semitism into their ranks than anger their liberal base.”