Trump says he is considering two women for Supreme Court

President Donald Trump said Friday he has narrowed his list of Supreme Court finalists to five candidates, including two women, and plans to announce his nominee on July 9, one day before he is scheduled to depart for a week-long European trip.

Trump is moving quickly to fill the vacancy that will be created when Justice Anthony M. Kennedy retires from the court July 31. Kennedy announced his retirement Wednesday, in part to give the Senate time to consider a nominee and hold votes before the midterm elections in November.

"I like them all," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "It is a group of highly talented, very brilliant, mostly conservative judges."

Trump has said he will select a nominee from a list of 25 names, many of them judges on federal and state courts across the country.

"Outside of war and peace, of course, the most important decision you make is the selection of a Supreme Court judge, if you get it," Trump said. "As you know, there are many presidents who never get a choice."

Trump said Friday that his Supreme Court selection process would begin in earnest on Monday and that he would interview "six or seven" candidates in total. He said he planned to interview one or two of them this weekend in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he is spending time with family at his private golf course.

"I may have two of them come up, like the old days, to Bedminster," Trump said, referring to the staff and Cabinet interviews he held there in late 2016 during the presidential transition. "It is exciting."

The president said he was not intending to ask candidates about their positions on Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion rights case that the court decided in 1973.

"That's not a question I'll be asking them," he said.

Earlier Friday, Trump made similar comments in an interview with Fox News and said he was looking for a nominee who closely models Justice Neil Gorsuch, whom Trump nominated in January 2017.

Asked by Fox's Maria Bartiromo whether he would ask potential nominees how they might come down on Roe v. Wade, Trump said: "Well, that's a big one. And probably not. They're all saying, 'Don't do that, you don't do that, you shouldn't do that,' but I'm putting conservative people on."

"I'm very proud of Neil Gorsuch," Trump continued. "He has been outstanding. His opinions are so well-written and so brilliant. I'm going to try and do something like that, but I don't think I'm going to be so specific."

In his Air Force One conversation with reporters, during the quick afternoon flight to New Jersey from Washington, Trump singled out one potential candidate for the court, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, indicating that Lee was pining for the nomination.

"He's an outstanding talent," Trump said of Lee. "I actually saw him on television last night, where he said he would love the job. You know, usually they don't say that."

Previously:

• 07/02/18: 'We have to pick a great one': Inside Trump's plan for a new Supreme Court justice
• 05/18/18: To expose, or not: Dispute pits president and GOP chairman of House Intelligence Committee against Justice Department and intelligence agencies
• 12/20/17: The collapse of three judicial nominations in the span of a week has embarrassed the White House, but they also are aberrations in what has been an undeniable success for the president
• 09/04/17: Trump expected to phase out Obama program for child illegals, although decision is not finalized
• 08/22/17: Why the prez did it: Behind the decision, infighting, stalemate, and finally a bow to the generals
• 06/19/17: Watch out Middle East, here comes Jared!
• 04/26/17: An unambiguous pledge from Trump
• 03/01/17: In speech to Congress, Trump aims to steady presidency after tumultuous start
• 02/13/17: As Flynn falls under growing pressure over Russia contacts, Trump remains silent
• 02/06/17: Team Trump finally organizes as prez heads to long weekend at Mar-a-Lago
• 11/17/16: Trump chooses unusual setup; Will govern by seeking counsel from concentric spheres of influence
• 08/15/16: Millennial voters see 2016 as bad joke
• 07/19/16: Trump's campaign is a resurrection - and second chance - for Dole alumni
• 06/14/16: Trump expands proposed ban on Muslim, Mideast immigrants
• 06/06/16: How Bernie Sanders missed his chance to beat Hillary Clinton
• 05/16/16: Inside the GOP effort to draft an independent candidate to derail Trump
• 05/05/16: As Trump takes the GOP's reins
• 04/18/16: While the GOP worries about convention chaos, Trump pushes for 'showbiz' feel
• 04/11/16: These 200 people could decide whether Donald Trump gets the GOP nomination
• 03/23/16: Trump's wide-ranging stands defy much of GOP's doctrine
• 03/22/16:Trump questions U.S. role in the world
• 03/08/16: Seeing Trump as vulnerable, GOP elites -- at goverrnors' retreat -- plot slow-bleed strategy
• 03/02/16: Jerry Falwell Jr.'s Trump endorsement draws objections from his late father's confidant
• 02/29/16: Why Rubio will soon start cheering on Trump
• 02/24/16: Nevada caucuses are Trump's to lose --- and he still could
• 02/08/16: Debate seems to halt momentum of 'Rubio bot'
• 02/03/16: In New Hampshire, GOP governors take aim at a resurgent Marco Rubio
• 02/02/16: The inside story of how Ted Cruz won Iowa
• 01/28/16: Trump's boycott of debate: Big mistake or crafty move?