President-elect Donald Trump picked South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Wednesday as US ambassador to the United Nations – the first woman tapped so far for a Cabinet-level post during his White House transition.

Haley, 44, the daughter of immigrants from India, once rebuked Trump for failing to disavow white supremacists, but said she has accepted the UN post out of a “sense of duty.”

The Republican governor, who has little international experience, said she will “be forever grateful” that South Carolinians “took a chance on a little-known, 38-year old, minority, female governor.”

Haley took office in 2011 and has two years remaining in her tenure. South Carolina limits its governors to two terms.

“Governor Haley has a proven track record of bringing people together regardless of background or party affiliation to move critical policies forward for the betterment of her state and our country,” Trump said in a release Wednesday.

“She is also a proven dealmaker, and we look to be making plenty of deals. She will be a great leader representing us on the world stage,” he said.

A former state representative, Haley is the daughter of Sikh immigrants from India who ran a clothing business.

She gained prominence after former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed her in a GOP primary during her campaign for governor in 2010.

She later won plaudits for backing the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house after the 2015 massacre of nine black churchgoers by a white supremacist in Charleston.

Haley said Wednesday that the US “faces enormous challenges here at home and internationally, and I am honored that the president-elect has asked me to join his team and serve the country we love as the next ambassador to the United Nations.”

Not all presidents have treated the UN ambassadorship – the highest-profile diplomatic position after secretary of state — as a Cabinet-level position. Republicans have tended not to grant that status.

As a Cabinet member, Haley would have more opportunity to shape US policies, rather than simply defend the Trump administration’s positions.

If confirmed, Haley will face ideological challenges with Trump, who has campaigned on the theme of “America first” and said he was skeptical about “international unions that tie us up and bring America down.”

The president-elect also has described the UN as weak and incompetent.

Haley would be the third consecutive female US ambassador to the UN, after Susan Rice and current Ambassador Samantha Power.

Haley’s departure from South Carolina would clear the way for Lt. Gov. Henry McMaster, an early Trump backer, to step into the role as governor.

Trump selected Haley despite obvious bad blood between the two during the campaign.

“The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!” Trump wrote on Twitter in March.

Haley, meanwhile, denounced some of his campaign rhetoric and urged voters to “reject the siren call of the angriest voices.”

In February, she called Trump “everything a governor doesn’t want in a president,” AFP reported.

She also denounced Trump’s promise to ban Muslims from entering the US as “un-American.”

But after meeting the president-elect last week at Trump Tower, Haley said the two had a “very nice” conversation and has described herself as “giddy” over the prospect of joining the incoming administration.

With Post Wires