Op-Ed by Nikki Haley: We Have a Country to Save

By: Nikki Haley
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In two years, America will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our founding. When July 4, 2026, arrives, what kind of country will we have? Will we celebrate what America has achieved and where we're headed? Or will we mourn what America has become and what we've lost?

If Joe Biden is president, America's 250th anniversary will surely be grim. He'll worsen the problems he has created. Families are already struggling to buy groceries and pay their mortgages. The southern border is flooded by immigrants, drug runners and terrorists. Cities are filled with crime. There's war in Europe and the Middle East and the threat of war in the Pacific. If Biden is president on our 250th anniversary, there's no telling how bad the crisis will be.

Americans know we must defeat Biden. Only a little more than a third of the country approves of the job he's doing. Those Americans see that he's running the country into the ground. But I'm running for president to save America. Donald Trump can't, because he'll lose to Biden in November.

Trump is dividing our country when we need to unite. He calls his opponents "vermin." He threatens people who don't support him. He has driven away suburban voters, contributing to Republican losses in 2018, 2020 and 2022. A stunning 40% of Republican primary voters don't support him, even though he's basically an incumbent. That's not how you win in November.

The polls are clear: I beat Biden by double digits. On a good day, Trump is even with Biden, and he doesn't have many good days. Trump will sink Republican candidates nationwide, from the U.S. Senate to school boards, like he's done in every election since 2016. He'll give us four more years of Biden — and God forbid, Vice President Kamala Harris.

There was a time for Trump. I proudly served America in his administration. I voted for him twice and supported many of his policies. But Trump's time has passed. Even if he could win, he's not able to tackle the crises that will destroy our country.

The next president needs to put our fiscal house in order. We're $34 trillion in debt, and if we keep doing nothing, we will devastate our economy and bankrupt our people. But Trump added $8 trillion to the national debt. He wants to add more. So does Biden, who has put us on track to add $2 trillion to the debt every year.

I'm not afraid to say the hard truths and make the hard choices. We must stop pork barrel spending, end corporate welfare and bailouts, and veto Congress' budget blowouts. Trump and Biden have never done that and never will. I did as governor of South Carolina. I will again as president.

Most of all, the next president needs to keep America safe. Biden can't. His debacle in Afghanistan led to war in Ukraine and the Middle East. But Trump is dangerous, too. He praises dictators who want to destroy us, such as Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong-Un. He says we have to abandon our allies to secure our border.

Trump is wrong — America can do both. We can secure our border and stop war from spreading. In fact, we don't have a choice. If we let Russia win in Ukraine, it will encourage Putin to invade our NATO allies, China to encroach on Taiwan and Iran to continue attacking Israel. Trump is demanding that Republican senators abandon Ukraine, and many are following his demand. What will they do when he demands they abandon Israel?

We cannot let this future come to pass. We must make America strong and safe. It's the only way to prevent war. We must defeat Biden in November. And that means the Republican Party must move beyond Trump. On Super Tuesday, we must chart a new direction — one of unity and progress, not more division and decline.

I am ready to chart that course. I am ready to leave the failed ideas and leaders of the past behind and move our nation into the future. That starts on Super Tuesday and continues on Election Day in November. And when we mark the 250th anniversary of America's founding, two years from now, we deserve to live in a country that is strong and proud and united in purpose.