Donald Trump Interviews Indian-American Amul Thapar for US Supreme Court

Amul Thapar, 49, is among the 25 shortlisted judges Donald Trump could nominate to replace outgoing Justice Kennedy, said the report.

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Amul Thapar. (Image: sourced via Facebook)

Washington: Prominent Indian-American judge Amul Thapar has emerged as a "serious" candidate to replace retiring US Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy after President Donald Trump interviewed him and three others, a media report said on Tuesday.

Justice Kennedy, 81, announced his retirement from the US Supreme Court last week. He met Trump at the White House soon after he told his colleagues in the Supreme Court that July 31 would be his last day at the apex court.

Thapar, 49, is among the 25 shortlisted judges Trump could nominate to replace Kennedy, The Washington Post reported.

Neither the White House nor Trump himself revealed the names except for saying that he interviewed four potential Supreme Court nominees.

The four interviewed by Trump for the Supreme Court bench are Amul Thapar, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Raymond Kethledge, the report said.

Thapar has the backing of Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader.

"I think he's absolutely brilliant, with the right temperament," he told reporters over the weekend.

Trump's meeting yesterday with Thapar, who lives and works in McConnell's home state of Kentucky, was described by several White House aides as both a gesture of respect for the Senate GOP leader and evidence that he is in "serious" contention, the report added.

"I'll be meeting two or three more and we'll make a decision on the United States Supreme Court, the new justice," Trump said, described the meeting as very interesting.