April 17, 2018 05:29 PM UTC

White House, Nikki Haley Exchange Barbs

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• by: Colorado Pols

As CNN reports, another top Trump administration official is in the doghouse:

A consensus emerged Tuesday at the White House and Mar-a-Lago about how to clean up the administration’s suddenly muddled plans to crack down on Russia: Blame Nikki Haley.

Several administration officials said the US ambassador to the United Nations got ahead of President Donald Trump’s decision-making when she hit the Sunday talk show circuit and said the US would level new sanctions the next day targeting Russian companies that facilitated the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program. The sanctions have yet to come.

“She got ahead of the curve,” National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters on Tuesday near the President’s Florida estate, a day after a report claiming Trump “put the brakes” on plans for new Russia sanctions. “She’s done a great job, she’s a very effective ambassador. There might have been some momentary confusion about that.”

Haley struck back with a stunning statement later in the day that opened a new rift in the administration and raised questions about the White House’s explanation of her comments.

“With all due respect, I don’t get confused,” she said in a statement obtained by CNN’s Jake Tapper.

Kudlow says that he later called Haley to apologize, but there is clearly a great deal of tension with President Trump regarding potential plans for new Russia sanctions.