Nikki Haley says Donald Trump wants to use RNC as ‘piggy bank’ for his legal battles
- The US presidential hopeful says Trump is seeking control of the Republican National Committee after being ordered to pay hundreds of millions in recent cases
- The former president is supporting Michael Whatley as the RNC’s new head, and has endorsed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to serve as co-chair
US presidential hopeful Nikki Haley on Friday warned that Donald Trump was aiming to “get control” of the Republican National Committee, adding that she did not want to see him use the committee as a “piggy bank” for his court fees.
While speaking on CNN, Haley told anchor Kaitlan Collins she was concerned about Trump’s push for new leadership at the RNC after a court found the ex-US president liable for inflating his net worth and ordered him to pay nearly US$355 million.
The interest on the payments alone could add roughly US$100 million to that figure. And then there is the additional US$83.3 million a court ordered Trump to pay writer E. Jean Carroll in January after a jury found he had damaged her reputation.
Another court ordered Trump in a separate 2023 case to pay Carroll US$5 million after he was found liable for sexual abuse.
“My biggest issue is I don’t want the RNC to become his legal defence fund. I don’t want the RNC to become his piggy bank for his personal court cases,” Haley said. “We’ve already seen him spend US$50 million worth of campaign contributions toward his personal court cases.”