Trump says abortion rights could be decided by states

Speaking about abortion rights on Fox News, Mr. Trump said, "Maybe someday it will be up to the states.You never know how it's going to happen. is a very complex issue. "He added:" He could very well end up with the states at one point. "

During one of his presidential debates with

Hillary Clinton

in the 2016 presidential campaign, Mr. Trump gave a more complete picture of how this might happen.

"If we put two or maybe three judges on [the Supreme Court] it's really what's going to happen.This will happen automatically in my opinion.Because I put pro-life judges on the ground I'll say that, he'll go back to the states and the states will make a decision. "

Ms. Collins comments Sunday on CNN suggest toughening positions within the narrowly divided Senate, which must approve any candidate. GOP controls 51 of the 100 Senate seats, one of which is owned by

Senator John McCain

from Arizona, who is fighting an aggressive form of brain cancer.

"I would not support a candidate who expressed hostility to Roe v. Wade because it would mean to me that their judicial philosophy did not include respect for established decisions." Collins

Collins, a moderate Republican who sometimes broke with the Republican majority in Senate votes, is closely watched as a central figure of the vote

.Trump said he plans on July 9th. to announce his candidate to replace Judge Kennedy, who retired last week, and he said Sunday that the confirmation process could be brutal.

"This is probably going to be vicious because the other side , all they can do, is to obstruct and resist, "he said in the Fox News interview. Trump said Friday that he was going to interview one or two candidates during the course of the semester at his hotel in Bedminster, NJ, speculating on the position of five selected finalists on an initial list of 25 Conservative candidates.

read background papers on candidates and called friends and advisers to clarify the vacancy

. Trump asked for confidences for their impressions of several federal court of appeal judges, including Brett Kavanaugh in Washington, DC, Amy Coney Barrett in Chicago and

Thomas Hardiman

In Philadelphia, a person close to the White House said Sunday.

In private conversations, Mr. Trump asked about the prospects for confirmation of candidates and the preferences of different constituency groups

M. Trump has not yet chosen a candidate, but he is open to At least a handful of people, the person added.

The vacancy jeopardized the ideological balance of the court and gave Mr. Trump the opportunity to give a strong conservative imprint to the court.

million. Trump in recent days has said that he will not ask candidates for their views on Roe vs. Wade.

It is difficult to predict how a judge could vote on abortion rights. Once confirmed for life positions, some judges defied expectations.

Kennedy J. and the former judge

David Souter

Both nominated by Republican Presidents took a stand on some social issues that left the Conservatives disappointed. Mr. Kennedy separated from the Conservatives of the Court with liberal decisions on access to abortion, the death penalty, homosexual rights and voting rights

. Trump said in the Fox News interview that he's expecting to win Democrat votes for a Supreme Court nominee – an indication that he might be looking for a chance to win a job. a candidate with centrist appeal.

"I think it's going to be very fast," said Trump. "I think we're going to have a lot of support, I think we're going to have the support of the Democrats, frankly."

White House officials are courting some Democrats, especially the three who voted for the Democrats. 39, last year for justice

Neil Gorsuch,

Trump's first candidate on the Supreme Court. Meaning.

Joe Manchin

(D., W.Va.),

Heidi Heitkamp,

(D., N.D.) and

Joe Donelly

(D., Ind.), All went to the White House Thursday for meetings with the President.

Observers say that no Democrat will likely approve a candidate whom they believe would overthrow Roe v. Wade

. Collins and

Senator Lisa Murkowski

(R., Alaska) are both considered essential votes. Both support abortion rights and have broken with their party on contentious issues such as the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Both are also under pressure from abortion opponents, abortion rights groups and Democrats.

Democrats urge to delay any vote on a candidate before the mid-term elections

"I think we should wait and let the American people have their say"

Senator Tammy Duckworth

(D., Ill.) Stated on CNN. "Let's go to the election.We are only four months old.This is not long.And then let's take a look at these nominees."

Collins said on Sunday that she would have in-depth discussions with any candidate. Mr. Trump told him that he would not ask candidates questions about Roe v. Wade during her interview, she said. And she said that she was not comfortable with everyone on the list of potential candidates.

Senator Amy Klobuchar

(D., Minn.) – one of the leading Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee – said Sunday that no one on Mr. Trump's shortlist was acceptable because of what he said. she considered their judicial activism.

They wrote concordances when they go out of their way to try to make a new law, "said Ms. Klobuchar on ABC

last year, the Republicans finally united behind the appointment of Mr. Trump of Judge Gorsuch to succeed at the end

Antonin Scalia,

with the three Democrats of states, Mr. Trump won the nomination in 2016.

Potential candidates that the President envisioned include federal district and circuit judges, supreme court judges, and a US senator, who have all were selected by the leaders of the conservative Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation for ideological reliability.

– Ben Kesling contributed to this article.

Write to Stephanie Armor at [email protected] and Peter Nicholas at [email protected]