President Donald Trump could barely contain his glee that the decision to nominate Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court had been largely kept under wraps, further heightening the drama of his prime-time January 2017 announcement.

“So, was that a surprise? Was it?” Trump, relishing the moment, asked just seconds after ushering Gorsuch in front of a cheering crowd assembled at the White House.


Now, nearly 18 months later, Trump wants a repeat of his reality show reveal, according to three people close to the president. Trump has told aides that he sees the Gorsuch announcement as one of the high-water marks of his presidency, and he has warned his associates against leaking his next Supreme Court pick in a bid to ratchet up the intrigue.

“He wants to be the person who discloses the pick,” said a Republican close to the White House.

Monday’s announcement, which is tentatively planned for 9 p.m. to maximize television exposure, is expected to echo last year’s East Room ceremony, in which Trump, the former host of “The Apprentice,” let the tension build before introducing Gorsuch and his wife, who had been secretly brought into the White House earlier in the day.

“The president is smartly building up his Supreme Court nomination the same way Vince McMahon builds up WrestleMania,” said Andy Surabian, a former White House adviser to Trump. “For President Trump’s supporters, this Supreme Court nomination is the main event.”

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But preventing leaks won’t be easy, especially for a White House that often can’t keep even the most minor details secret. In order to minimize the chances of a leak, the administration has kept the circle of aides involved in the process to a minimum, according to a White House official. Another person close to the White House credited White House counsel Don McGahn, who is heading up the search, with keeping a relatively tight lid on the process.

Only five or six senior aides were aware of Trump’s final decision on Gorsuch, according to a third person close to the White House. A similarly small number of aides are expected to be informed this time.

Like last year, however, a short list of Trump’s top choices for the Supreme Court job has started dribbling out to the press. Trump has so far interviewed seven potential candidates, and the leading contenders are said to be judges Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Raymond Kethledge.

Even 1½ years later, current and former administration officials remain shocked that the Gorsuch decision didn’t leak, noting that senior aides have been unsuccessfully losing the war against leaks for months. Trump himself has been railing against leaks, regularly asking associates who they think the biggest leakers in the White House are.

While at least one news outlet, the right-leaning Independent Journal Review, reported that Trump had settled on Gorsuch, even up until the official announcement, most major news outlets were still reporting it was down to Gorsuch and federal appeals court judge Thomas Hardiman.

People who served in the White House at the time said the news didn’t leak in part because even some senior aides didn’t know whom Trump picked until he announced it. “They kept it incredibly tight, until the very last minute,” a former administration official said. “Only the people who had to know knew.”

It also didn’t hurt that some people close to the president were playing a clever game of misdirection, pushing the idea that both Gorsuch and Hardiman might be coming to the White House for a winner-take-all reality show-style face-off.

At one point rumors began circulating that Hardiman was driving to the White House, a prospect that gained traction when a reporter spotted him at a gas station in Pennsylvania. “The reality is that to the best of my knowledge he never left the state of Pennsylvania," then-White House press secretary Sean Spicer later clarified to reporters. “He never was in D.C., nor did he ever leave the commonwealth.”

This time around, White House officials are wary of predicting another leak lockdown. One administration official noted that efforts to prevent leaks about everything from Trump’s phone calls with world leaders to his new lead communications aide have failed spectacularly.

Another person close to the White House said Trump himself could ultimately be the source of the leaks. The president is known to talk to a range of friends and advisers before making a decision, a practice that dramatically increases the chances of his decision getting out.

But Trump hates to see his next moves telegraphed in the news media and he takes pleasure in messing with reporters. During an Oval Office meeting last month soon after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, Trump seemed thrilled that the White House press corps hadn’t noticed that Kennedy had personally visited the West Wing to inform the president of his decision.

“I don't think you folks saw him come in and out, did you? I'm shocked,” a smiling Trump told reporters. “Boy, they've done a great job. That's a shocker.”

Nancy Cook contributed to this report.

