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Haley: World perception of Trump as 'unpredictable' isn't a bad thing

"I think they don't know what the U.S. is going to do at any given time, and so for that reason they're getting much more cautious and they're paying attention to how they work with us."
United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, addresses the General Assembly prior to the vote on Jerusalem, on December 21, 2017, at UN Headquarters in New York.

WASHINGTON — World leaders and diplomats see President Trump as "unpredictable" — and that's "not a bad thing" for U.S. foreign policy, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Sunday.

Haley said on ABC's This Week that leaders around the world are "absolutely glued" to Trump's tweets.

"But they see him as unpredictable," she said. "That's probably the overwhelming feeling that I see."

And that has benefits, she said.

"I think they don't know what the U.S. is going to do at any given time, and so for that reason they're getting much more cautious and they're paying attention to how they work with us," she said. "So, you know, we've got a ways to go, but it's not a bad thing, it's really not."

Haley said the prospect of nuclear war with North Korea is a "very dangerous situation" and she defended Trump's tweet taunting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over who has more nuclear power.

"We want to always remind them we can destroy you too, so be very cautious and careful with your words and what you do," she said. "I know it's something that makes people nervous but if we didn't do it, we would be in a more dangerous..."

As for Trump's tweet, she said, "I think that he always has to keep Kim on his toes. It's very important that we don't ever let him get so arrogant that he doesn't realize the reality of what would happen if he started a nuclear war."

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