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Trump's UN nominee reassures advocates of Iran deal, two-state solution

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley offered a measured counterpoint to Donald Trump's inflamed rhetoric during her confirmation hearing Jan. 18.
Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley testifies before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on her nomination to be to U.S. ambassador to the United Nations at Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 18, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTSW3K1
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Diplomatic novice Nikki Haley easily won over her Senate interrogators Jan. 18 by reassuring them that the incoming administration will at least have a steady hand guiding the US Mission to the United Nations. 

On every issue from the Iran deal to Israeli-Palestinian peace to the global world order, the South Carolina governor offered a nuanced and measured counterpoint to President-elect Donald Trump's inflammatory rhetoric. During 3½ hours before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Haley tactfully won over conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats with pointed answers to a wide variety of questions that repeatedly put her at odds with her future boss.

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