Trump reportedly considered withdrawing Gorsuch's Supreme Court nomination
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch
President Donald Trump reportedly told associates earlier this year that he was thinking about withdrawing Neil M. Gorsuch’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump was upset following reports that Gorsuch had told a Democratic senator that he found Trump’s attacks on the judiciary “disheartening” and “demoralizing,” unnamed sources told the Washington Post.
Trump was worried Gorsuch would not be “loyal,” one of the sources told the Post.
One source said aides should have prepared Trump for any statements by Gorsuch that asserted his independence from the president because that is part of a successful nomination process.
Trump had not seen a handwritten letter from Gorsuch thanking him for the nomination and had complained Gorsuch had not shown sufficient gratitude, according to the story.
The letter was produced for Trump and he looked at it on March 10, according to legislative affairs director Marc Short. “The process obviously caused frustration, but that frustration was compounded by the fact that Gorsuch had sent him a personal letter that he never received,” Short said.
The letter congratulated Trump “on such a great start” and praised the president’s address to Congress as “magnificent.”
Still, Short said he never believed Gorsuch’s nomination was in jeopardy, “nor did the president ever suggest to me that he wanted to pull him.”
White House spokesman Raj Shah also denied that the president had considered withdrawing Gorsuch’s nomination.
Since confirmation, Trump has said his appointment of Gorsuch was among his greatest achievements. Gorsuch “is really something very special,” Trump told the National Rifle Association in April.
Corrected at 10:32 a.m. to include Gorsuch’s middle initial.
