Former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo (R) and ex-UN ambassador Nikki Haley (Photo by AFP)

Miami, November 10 (RHC)-- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has ruled out roles for hawkish politicians Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo, who served in his previous administration. 

Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform, as speculations rise on his potential cabinet picks.  He said his former ambassador to the United Nations Haley and ex-secretary of state Pompeo would not be joining his incoming administration.

“I will not be inviting ... Haley, or ... Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration,” he added.  “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country."

Haley was Trump’s last rival standing in the fight for the Republican nomination earlier this year.   Just days before the 2024 US presidential election on November 5th, she said the Trump campaign’s rhetoric was driving away women and minorities.  However, she congratulated Trump after he was determined the winner of the 2024 election.

Pompeo backed the U.S. support for Ukraine at a time when Trump vowed to end American aid to the European country and military aggression overseas.  Some recent media reports mentioned Pompeo, who also served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, under Trump, as a possible defense secretary in the new U.S. cabinet.

In a separate development over the weekend, Trump picked up another 11 electoral votes in Arizona state, giving him a total of 312 votes to the 226 won by the Democratic vice president, Kamala Harris.