Washington: Indian-American former presidential candidate Nikki Haley has said she will vote for her former rival and boss Donald Trump in the November US election, breaking her silence on the matter since she dropped out of the Republican presidential primary more than two months ago.However, Haley, 52, has not received any official support.

Haley, who once served as Trump's U.N. ambassador, was the last of his major rivals to drop out of the party primary contest in early March.

I will vote for Trump - Nikki Haley

"I will vote for Trump," Haley said in response to a question on Wednesday during her appearance at the Hudson Institute, a top conservative think-tank in the US capital, where she had come to deliver a speech on national security and foreign policy.

"As a voter, I put my priorities on a president who will support our allies and hold our enemies accountable; who will secure the border, no longer making excuses; a president who will support capitalism and freedom; a president who understands we need less debt, but not more debt," she said.

"Trump has not been right on these policies. I have made that clear many times. But (Joe) Biden has been a disaster. So, I will vote for Trump. Having said that... I stand by what I said in my suspension speech," she said.

Haley was born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina, to Sikh immigrant parents from Amritsar, Punjab. Haley is the first Indian-American to serve in the Presidential Cabinet.

Haley said she had "no regrets" about her Republican primary bid: "We left it all on the field."

He also thanked primary voters who continued to support him even after he withdrew from the race — a potential warning sign for Trump — and reiterated a call he made for the former president to reach out to those voters when he left the race in March.

I stand by my words – Haley

"Trump will be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me and not assume they're just going to stick with him. I really hope he does that," Haley said in response to a question.

Anti-Trump Republican voters largely united behind Haley's presidential bid earlier this year, and her dormant candidacy continues to garner support more than two months after she left the race.

He won more than 20 percent of the vote in at least two state primary elections in the past fortnight.

But he did not call on his supporters to do the same. He told the audience, “I stand by what I said in my suspension speech.”

Speculation is now likely to grow over whether Haley will formally mend ties with Trump and support him.

In her speech, the former South Carolina governor criticized President Biden's foreign policy for allowing China, Russia, and Iran to grow stronger.

Since the fall of Afghanistan, he said, North Korea has become more aggressive toward South Korea and Japan. China is preparing to attack Taiwan. Of course, Iran and Russia have already started their own wars. Without the Afghanistan debacle, Iran would have thought twice before allowing Hamas to attack Israel. In that case, Russia probably would not have invaded Ukraine.

While Ukrainians have proven to be amazing warriors, Biden refuses to help them win, he alleged. He gives them just enough to survive while Russian missiles and tanks grind their country to dust. The president seems to want a negotiated ceasefire in which Ukraine takes back some of its territory stolen by Russia. That would only leave Russia the winner and wanting more.

He said, the same thing applies to Israel also.

Biden spent three years trying to please Iran

Hamas, he said, was better positioned to attack Israel because Biden spent more than three years appeasing Iran. He eased sanctions, brokered billions of dollars in ties and begged the ayatollahs to return to the nuclear deal.

Haley said, Biden has given Iran nothing but cash and time. It used cash and time to strengthen its terrorist proxies. Cash and time are used to reach the brink of a nuclear bomb. Joe Biden's legacy is already clear. He will go down in history as a commander-in-chief who refused to stop our enemies. He will be remembered for spending more on national debt than on national defense. He weakened America while allowing China, Russia and Iran to grow stronger.

Biden campaign officials said Haley’s comments would not sway anti-Trump moderates and independents who reject the violence and division Trump represents.

“Nothing has changed for the millions of Republican voters who continued to cast their ballots against Donald Trump in the primaries and care deeply about the future of our democracy,” Michael Tyler, communications director for Biden’s re-election campaign, said in a statement.