“If a dictator wins with any of those, they will go after the next one, the next one and the next one,” she told a Fort Dodge audience Tuesday evening.

“It’s always right to fight for freedom,” she added.

Haley was the keynote speaker at the 2023 Republican Party of Iowa Fort Dodge Reception held at Fort Frenzy. About 150 people attended.

She served as the American ambassador to the United Nations from January 2017 to December 2018, and talked at length about the dangers created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s threats toward Taiwan.

As U.N. ambassador she traveled the world, and that experience demonstrated for her how lucky Americans are.

“Even on our worst day, we are blessed to live in America,” she said.

Haley is the first presidential hopeful to visit Fort Dodge in advance of the 2024 caucuses. She is part of a Republican field that is expected to include former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, among others.

While the Republican Party is committed to having its traditional first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus in January 2024, the Democratic Party has dropped Iowa in favor of having its first contest in South Carolina. That and the fact that President Joe Biden is a Democrat makes it unlikely that Iowa will see much Democratic campaigning for 2024.

Haley said that during her years as U.N. ambassador she found Ukraine to be a stalwart American ally.

“We had no better friend than Ukraine,” she said.

That alone should be reason to help Ukraine, she said. She added that if Ukraine is defeated, Russia will likely attack Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania next.

A Russian victory in Ukraine, she said, will embolden China.

“A win for Russia is a win for China,” she said a couple of times during her remarks.

Haley said she does not want to give Ukraine money and she does not want to send American troops there.

She said the United States should join with its allies to make sure Ukraine has enough supplies, weapons and ammunition to win.

In a separate foreign affairs matter, Haley said she would end $46 billion in aid payments to countries like Belarus, China, Cuba, and Zimbabwe.

“You can’t buy friends, you can’t pay off enemies,” she said. “We will stop giving money to countries that hate America.”

On the domestic front, Haley said if she is elected president, she will:

n “Claw back” $500 billion in unspent COVID relief money.

n Balance the federal budget.

n Stop federal government borrowing.

n Implement Social Security reforms that would result in a higher retirement age for workers now in their 20s.

n Press for school choice across the country.

n Implement a mandatory verification system to ensure that people are eligible to work in the United States.

n Take federal funds away from cities that declare themselves to be sanctuaries for illegal immigrants.