Trump ‘very close’ to decision

4 still weighed for top court, he says

BERKELEY HEIGHTS, N.J. — President Donald Trump said Sunday he was still deliberating his decision on a replacement for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy as his selfimposed deadline for an announcement neared amid furious lobbying and frenzied speculation.

“I’m very close to making a final decision. And I believe this person will do a great job,” Mr. Trump said as he prepared to return to Washington from a weekend at his New Jersey golf club. Asked by reporters how many people were being considered, the president said: “Let’s say it’s the four people ... they’re excellent, every one. You can’t go wrong.”

While Mr. Trump didn’t name the four, top contenders for the role have included federal appeals Judges Brett Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge, Amy Coney Barrett and Thomas Hardiman, whose judicial chambers are in Pittsburgh, where his wife comes from a family of prominent Democrats. The White House has been preparing information materials on all four, who were part of a longer list of 25 names vetted by conservative groups.

Mr. Trump has not yet communicated a final choice, said a person familiar with his thinking who was not authorized to speak publicly. Mr. Trump has spent the weekend discussing his options with allies — mulling the likely response of key senators and his core supporters to each prospect, according to White House officials and Trump advisers involved in the discussions — and will announce his pick at 9 p.m. EDT Monday from the White House.

Savoring the suspense, Mr. Trump has sought to keep people guessing in the final hours, hoping to replicate his successful announcement of Justice Neil Gorsuch last year. The White House hoped to keep the details under wraps until he rolls out his pick from the East Room.

In his conversations over the weekend, Mr. Trump expressed renewed interest in Judge Hardiman — the runner-up when Mr. Trump nominated then-Judge Gorsuch, said two people with knowledge of his thinking who were not authorized to speak publicly. But Mr. Trump’s final decision remained far from clear, and the president wants to keep the guessing game going. White House officials cautioned Sunday that Mr. Trump’s informal conversations with golf partners and friends did not necessarily hint at whom he would ultimately select for the court, a decision that could tilt the bench to the right for decades.