Nikki Haley: Could Donald Trump's biggest threat in 2020 come from a woman inside his own party?

The 46-year-old former governor claims she is not running, which is sometimes a sign of the opposite

Donald Trump simply did not get it when it came America’s history of immigration and the importance to the country of immigrants, said the speaker.

“Republicans need to remember that the fabric of America came from these legal immigrants. If you want to talk about tackling illegal immigration, then let’s talk about it, but we don’t need to attack so many millions of people who came here.”

Zeroing in of the one-time host of The Apprentice, the speaker concluded: “Don’t say you’re just going to build a wall, because a wall’s not going to do it.”

And the person delivering this sharp rebuke to Trump at the National Press Club in Washington DC in September 2015 - Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, Bernie Sanders, Mitt Romney?

No, it was the smart, quick-thinking and youthful daughter of immigrants from India, who had real, practical experience as a governor, and who might be just be the sort of person Republicans could turn to if they were seeking someone who could broaden their appeal beyond angry white men and social conservatives. Her name was Nikki Haley.

Haley, 46, who has announced she is standing down as the US’s UN Ambassador at the end of the year - apparently after clashing with national security advisor John Bolton - stressed she had no plans to run for the White House in 2020. She would be instead campaigning for Trump, she insisted.

“I will say this, for all of you that are going to ask about 2020, no, I am not running for 2020,” Haley said. “I can promise you what I’ll be doing is campaigning for this [president].”

Perhaps, perhaps not. There’s quite a lot of time between now and 2020, plenty of time to reconsider, plenty of time to ponder, having represented the US at various international forums, whether Trump’s vision for the nation is harmful rather than healthy.

There’s plenty of time too, for circumstances to change. Trump may decide for whatever reason he does not want to run. In the situation that Robert Mueller finds something truly damaging against the president and Democrats retake the House and trigger impeachment proceedings, senior Republicans could decide they need a fresh face, untainted by the probe for 2020. Even better if that person has positioned themselves as a hardliner against Russia and Vladimir Putin, something Haley has done.

If not Haley, then how about another female Republican who has shown her willingness to stand up for what she believes in and criticise the president when she sees fit?

Last week, when Lisa Murkowski become the sole Republican senator to vote against the confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, the president claimed the people of Alaska “will never forgive her for what she did”.

But Murkowski delivered a powerful speech from the senate floor, a speech that received far less media coverage than that of her colleague Susan Collins, who voted for Kavanaugh, explaining her decision.

“I did not come to a decision on this until walking onto the floor this morning. I have been wrestling to really try to know what is fair and what is right, and the truth is, that none of this has been fair,” she said.

Republicans in Alaska are said to be mulling the decision of Murkowski, who was first elected to the senate in 2002. After the weekend’s vote, Sarah Pailin, who was mocked as John McCain’s 2008 running mate when the claimed she could see Russia from her Alaska, suggested was tempted to challenge her when she is up for re-election in 2022. “Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house,” wrote Palin.

It is not usual for sitting presidents to be challenged by high profile members of their own party, but it does happen. In 1980, Jimmy Carter had to fight off a bitter primary challenge from senator Ted Kennedy. Four years earlier, Gerald Ford narrowly saw off a similarly hard-fought campaign from Ronald Reagan, who lost that battle but who went on to win the nomination in 1980 and then defeat Carter.

Trump has recently been bragging to supporters that Democrats have nobody who could touch in 2020. He has claimed he relishes the prospect of taking on someone like Joe Biden.

He might not be so thrilled if his challenger was someone from within, someone he nominated for a high-profile role that allowed her to shine.

Politics is seldom a pretty business.