Haley’s support for South Korea is a far cry from what domestic and South Korean critics feared out of a Trump administration – a full withdrawal from Asia. As a candidate, Trump had encouraged both nations to be self-reliant, even invoking the possibility of nuclear weapons development.

Critics also claimed Trump’s White House would remain silent in the face of Russian belligerence in Eastern Europe. As chief international representative to that White House, Haley has done no such thing. On the contrary; her debut before the UN Security Council was a condemnation of Russian military incursions into Eastern Ukraine. “I consider it unfortunate on the occasion of my first appearance here I must condemn the aggressive actions of Russia,” she said during her first appearance before the Security Council. “We do want to better our relations with Russia… however, the dire situation in eastern Ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of Russian actions.”

“We have criticized Russia for Crimea and Ukraine, for the actions they’ve taken there. We will call them out when we see something wrong. If we see where we can work together, of course, we’re going to try and do that,” Haley told an Al Jazeera journalist this week, once again condemning Russia, this time for supporting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and opposing resolutions condemning his use of chemical weapons against civilians.