U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he plans to announce his nominee for a coming vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court on July 9 and that he has identified five finalists, including two women.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from Washington to his private golf club in New Jersey, Trump said he may interview two contenders for the nomination this weekend.

He said he will not ask candidates whether they would overturn a 1973 ruling in the Roe v Wade case, which established a woman's right to abortion, nor would he discuss gay rights with them.

The president's nominee must win confirmation by the Senate. Republicans control the chamber but only by a slim majority, making the views of moderates, including some Democrats, important.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday he hoped the confirmation process would be done "in time for the new justice to begin the fall term of the Supreme Court ... the first Monday in October."

White House aide Marc Short said on MSNBC that the White House hoped for a Senate confirmation vote in September.

"Auto tariff probe will be completed in 3-4 weeks"

Trump also his administration's investigation into whether to increase tariffs on cars from the European Union and other trading partners would be completed in three to four weeks.

The president said the United States has been treated very badly by the World Trade Organization but he is not considering withdrawing from it at this point.

Trump has branded the WTO a "disaster" and flouted international trade norms by hitting key allies with stinging tariffs, and imposing crippling fees on Chinese goods in the name of US national security.