WASHINGTON – Ms Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and Mr Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, plans to announce that she is running for president.

She would become the first Republican to officially challenge her former boss for the 2024 GOP nomination.

Ms Haley is preparing to declare her candidacy in Charleston, South Carolina, on Feb 15, according to a person familiar with the plans.

That sets her on a collision course with Mr Trump, who announced a comeback campaign in November and who just visited South Carolina this past weekend. 

The daughter of Indian immigrant parents has long indicated that she harbours presidential aspirations.

But her candidacy is also a glaring sign of Mr Trump’s waning grip on the party. 

In April 2021, Ms Haley said that she would not run if Mr Trump did. 

In an interview with South Carolina’s WIS-TV on Saturday, Mr Trump pointed out her assertion she would not run if he became a candidate and said that he had recently spoken with her because she wanted his “opinion”. 

He added that he told her “if your heart wants to do it, you have to go do it”.

The Post and Courier of Charleston earlier reported Ms Haley’s plan to announce her candidacy. BLOOMBERG