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President Donald Trump is poised to announce his Supreme Court pick to fill the vacancy left by the late Antonin Scalia.

In his recent press conference, the president confirmed that meetings with some potential nominees have already taken place. Weve met with numerous candidates, said Trump. He also said he will announce a potential nominee within the first two weeks of his term.

Trump has pledged to appoint a strict conservative, someone with the same judicial philosophy as Justice Scalia.

Here is a list of potential nominees based on Trumps own list and ABC News' conversations with people close to the transition and legal experts:

Judge William Pryor, 54, sits on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Pryor is widely viewed as a staunch conservative. He has publicly condemned the Supreme Courts decision in Roe v. Wade, calling the ruling the worst abomination of constitutional law in our history. Pryor has voted to against the Affordable Care Act contraceptive mandate, and to uphold a strict voter ID law.

As Alabamas attorney general, Pryor successfully prosecuted and removed Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who refused to obey a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state Judicial Building. (Pryor reportedly believed that the Ten Commandments display was constitutional, but moved to remove Moore on the grounds that federal court orders must be obeyed.)

Pryor served as the attorney general of Alabama from 1997-2004. He was nominated to the 11th Circuit by President George W. Bush, and was eventually confirmed after an initial filibuster and then a recess appointment.

Judge Diane Sykes, 59, currently serves as a judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. She was nominated by Bush in 2003 and confirmed in 2004. Judge Sykes has taken a broad view of the Second Amendment, and has written that Obamacare's contraceptive mandate Obamacare violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Sykes, viewed as one of the most conservative judges on the 7th Circuit, also authored an opinion prohibiting a state university from revoking the charter of a religious group that excluded gays and lesbians.

Judge Sykes is a Wisconsin native, a graduate of Marquette Law School, and holds a degree in journalism from Northwestern. Prior to her service on the 7th Circuit, she was a Justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, a lawyer in private practice, and a state trial judge.

Justice Joan Larsen, 48, was named to the Michigan Supreme Court in September 2015, and in November 2016 won a statewide election to retain the seat through the end of 2018. Before that, Larsen was on the University of Michigan Law School faculty for more than a decade.

Larsen also served in the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel during the George W. Bush administration, where she was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General.

A former clerk for Scalia, Larsen wrote in a February New York Times op-ed that it is difficult to imagine anyone filling the gap he left.

Judge Steven Colloton, 54, was nominated to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals by President George W. Bush in 2003 and confirmed by the Senate 94-1. Hes from Iowa, attended Princeton and then Yale Law School, and clerked for Chief Justice William Rehnquist. He spent 8 years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, and then U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Iowa, with stints at the Office of Legal Counsel and as a lawyer in Ken Starrs Office of Independent Counsel. And he has worked in private practice, as a civil litigator.

Judge Neil Gorsuch, 49, is currently a judge on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals; he was nominated by Bush in 2006 and confirmed by voice vote.

Gorsuch clerked for Judge David B. Sentelle on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then for Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. He attended Harvard Law, and has a Ph.D. from Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar. In legal circles, hes considered a gifted writer. Like Scalia, he's also both a textualist and an originalist.

Judge Raymond Kethledge, 50, has been on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit since 2008. He was initially nominated by President George W. Bush in 2007, but his nomination ran into opposition. He was nominated again in 2008 and confirmed by voice vote. Kethledge previously served in various roles in private practice, including as counsel at Ford Motor Company, and before that was judiciary counsel to former U.S. Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich. Kethledge is originally from New Jersey; he earned his law degree from the University of Michigan and clerked for Justice Anthony Kennedy.

Judge Raymond Gruender, 53, has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit since 2004, when he was appointed by President Bush and confirmed 97-1. He previously served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. Gruender received undergraduate, law and business degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. He is consistently ranked among the most conservative sitting judges; he's also a long-standing and very active member of the conservative Federalist Society.

In 2012, Gruender wrote the majority opinion that upheld a South Dakota law that requires doctors to tell women seeking abortions that they're subject to an increased risk of suicide.

Judge Thomas Hardiman, 51, has been a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit since 2007 (where Trumps sister Maryanne Trump Barry is a senior judge), and was a Pennsylvania district court judge before that. Hes from Massachusetts. In high school, he drove a taxi for his familys business, and he attended Notre Dame on a scholarship. He received his J.D. from Georgetown and practiced at a number of firms in DC and then Pittsburgh before being nominated to the bench by George W. Bush.

One of Judge Hardiman most noted opinions on the 3rd Circuit was in favor of Pennsylvania jail's policy of strip-searching all detainees. Hardiman wrote that strip-searching all detainees who have been arrested for any crime wasn't a violation of the Fourth Amendment restriction on unreasonable searches and seizures. The Supreme Court in 2012 affirmed the decision.

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Meet Donald Trump's Potential Picks for Supreme Court Justice - ABC News

President Donald Trump was in a celebratory mood Friday night, attending a trio of balls with his newly-minted first lady, but it wasn't all about champagne toasts and on the dance floor: He addressed his disdain for political polling and the mainstream media, among some of his other ongoing talking points, at the balls.

At the Freedom Ball, the second soiree of the evening, Trump slammed "phony polls" and the "dishonest media."

Let me ask you, should I keep the Twitter going or not, Trump asked attendees at the ball, which was held Walter E. Washington Convention Center. "The enemies keep saying, 'Oh that's terrible,' but it's a way of bypassing dishonest media."

The response? The crowd roared with approval.

The newly sworn-in commander in chief also took a moment to address early election polls that showed him lagging behind Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

"We weren't given a great chance, but we knew we were going to win," he said. The first week was composed of the phony polls. We were at number one and we stayed there the entire route during the primaries.

The speech came shortly after Trumps' first dance as president and first lady at the first ball of the night, the Liberty Ball, where he also took aim at his critics.

"People that weren't so nice to me were saying that we did a really good job today," Trump said. They hated to do it, but they did it. And I respect that.

Following the first dance, the president and first lady were joined by vice president Mike Pence and his wife Karen, along with their children and their spouses, who danced to a live performance of the jazz classic "My Way."

The festivities come after Trump was sworn in as the country's 45th president and on the heels of the Senate confirmations of his picks to lead the Defense Department, James Mattis, and the Department of Homeland Security, John Kelly.

All in all, Trump said his first day as president was great.

"Now the work begins. There's no games, right? No games. We're not playing games. The work begins," he said while speaking at the first ball.

Trump attended three official balls on Friday. The Liberty Ball, as well as the Freedom Ball -- both open to the public -- were held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. The third ball, the invitation-only Salute to Our Armed Services Ball, was held at the National Building Museum.

"THANK YOU for another wonderful evening in Washington, D.C. TOGETHER, we will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," at the end of the evening.

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Donald Trump Slams 'Phony Polls' and 'Dishonest Media' at Inaugural Ball - ABC News

During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump made a number of claims about the state of the nation as he takes office.

Trump echoed themes from his campaign, painting a bleak picture of some aspects of American life, but also offering his presidency as a way forward for those who he says have been forgotten.

ABC News dug into his inaugural address and broke down the facts behind some of Trump's claims.

Trump: "For many decades we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military.

Question: Has the U.S. enriched foreign business and hurt its own?

Answer: This is difficult to quantify and experts disagree on the issue. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the number of manufacturing jobs has declined since the late 1990s (although they have rebounded slightly since 2010). And data from the U.S. International Trade Commission shows the U.S. negative trade balance with China growing significantly over the last decade. Still, the correlation between trade agreements that Trump disapproves of -- NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership -- and the economy is disputed by experts.

Question: Has the U.S. subsidized other countries' militaries while depleting its own?

Answer: It is true that the United States government provides military assistance to some foreign allies (around $5.6 billion in 2015, much of which goes to Israel). But it is difficult to argue that the U.S. military is depleted, given the U.S. defense budget is larger than any other department in government ($582.7 billion in 2017, although spending has fluctuated under President Obama). Defense sequestration mandated under the Budget Control Act of 2011 created a dip in spending, as did the withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, but in 2016 defense spending actually went up from 2015. Some of the cuts in manpower were related to sequestration, which Gen. Daniel Allyn, vice chief of staff of the Army last year called "our No. 1 readiness risk." Those mandatory cuts, combined with the post-war era, led Obamas military to decide it had to shrink the Army to 450,000 by the end of 2018. The Army reached its highest force level of President Barack Obama's tenure in 2011 -- 570,000. The word depletion is subjective.

Trump described "an education system flush with cash but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge."

Question: Is the education system financially "flush with cash?"

Answer: According to the Department of Education, expenditures on elementary and secondary schools in the United States totaled $620 billion in the 2012-13 school year. Spending per student has increased 5 percent over the last decade -- $10,455 to $11,011 spent on the operations of schools, adjusted for inflation, according to the agency. But over the last five years, operations spending has dropped roughly $500 per student, according to the department. The American people invest slightly more of the country's GDP in education compared to the 35 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the agency says. The United States spends 6.4 percent of its GDP on education vs. an average of 5.3 percent for comparable nations. The U.S. is the fifth-highest spending among those almost three dozen comparable countries.

Question: How do our students rank compared to others around the world?

Answer: The Program for International Student Assessment has measured the performance of American students compared to those in other countries. The U.S. average score in mathematics was lower than the average for all countries in the 35 member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development -- ranked behind 29 of the 35 comparable member countries. The country's science and reading scores were average among nations of the organization -- ranked behind 13 and 19 of the 35 comparable countries respectively, according to the Department of Education.

Trump: "And the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential."

Question: Is crime going up or down?

Answer: Crime did increase slightly nationwide from 2015 to 2016, according to data from the FBI, but it's been trending down for the last couple of decades. According to data from the Bureau of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey, the rate of both violent crime and property crime has declined dramatically since the early 1990's. The number of arrests for drug-related crime has also decreased over the last decade, from 1.8 million arrests in 2007 to 1.5 million arrests in 2015, according to data from the FBI. Still, Chicago ended 2016 with the city's highest number of homicides in two decades -- averaging more than two per day. Shootings in the city nearly doubled since 2013 to roughly 10 per day, according to the Chicago Police Department.

Trump: "Weve defended other nation's borders while refusing to defend our own."

Question: How much foreign military assistance does the U.S. give?

Answer: In 2015, the U.S. gave $5.65 billion in foreign military assistance, according to the State Department. Over $3 billion of the fiscal year 2015 foreign military assistance went to Israel, with the remaining funds distributed among nations all over the world, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South America, the State Department said.

Question: What about defending our borders?

Answer: The U.S. spends $18 billion a year on border control -- more spent on agents, technology, and weapons than ever before, according to analysis from the Immigration Policy Institute. Some 700 miles of fence already exist along the 2,000-mile southern border, compared to only 77 in 2000, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The government has also has more than 11,000 underground sensors, 107 aircraft, 175 mobile surveillance units and 273 remote video surveillance cameras, allowing the border patrol to monitor more effectively, according to the National Immigration Forum and Department of Homeland Security. There are more than 8,000 cameras watching the border wall, watching the ports of entry and watching above from helium balloons.

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Fact-Checking President Donald Trump's Inaugural Address - ABC News

New York Times

Donald Trump Is Sworn In as President, Capping His Swift Ascent New York Times WASHINGTON Donald John Trump was inaugurated as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, ushering in a new and more unpredictable era in which he vowed to shatter the established order and restore American greatness. From the West ... Donald Trump is sworn in as president, vows to end 'American carnage'Washington Post In Inaugural Address, Trump Decries 'Carnage' And Promises 'America First'NPR Donald Trump Sworn In as 45th President of the United StatesABC News BBC News -CNET -USA TODAY all 5,000 news articles »

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Donald Trump Is Sworn In as President, Capping His Swift Ascent - New York Times

On Jan. 20, 2017, President Trump took the oath of office, pledging in his inaugural address to embark on a strategy of "America first." Here are key moments from that speech. (Sarah Parnass/The Washington Post)

The president of the United States is now Donald Trump, who just took the oath of office and, shortly thereafter, delivered his inaugural address.

We've posted the entire transcript below and highlighted the key portions. To see an annotation, click on the yellow, highlighted text. To make your own, sign up for or log in to your account with Genius.

TRUMP: Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you.

(APPLAUSE) We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people.

(APPLAUSE)

Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. We will face challenges, we will confront hardships, but we will get the job done.

Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

Today's ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people.

(APPLAUSE)

For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished, but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered, but the jobs left and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories. Their triumphs have not been your triumphs. And while they celebrated in our nation's capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

(APPLAUSE)

That all changes starting right here and right now because this moment is your moment, it belongs to you.

(APPLAUSE)

It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.

(APPLAUSE)

What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

(APPLAUSE)

January 20th, 2017 will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.

(APPLAUSE)

The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

(APPLAUSE)

Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement, the likes of which the world has never seen before.

(APPLAUSE)

At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction, that a nation exists to serve its citizens. Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves. These are just and reasonable demands of righteous people and a righteous public.

But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge; and the crime and the gangs and the drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.

This American carnage stops right here and stops right now.

(APPLAUSE) We are one nation and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams. And their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny. The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.

(APPLAUSE)

For many decades, we've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry; subsidized the armies of other countries, while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military. We've defended other nations' borders while refusing to defend our own.

(APPLAUSE)

And spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America's infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. We've made other countries rich, while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.

One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.

But that is the past. And now, we are looking only to the future.

(APPLAUSE)

We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it's going to be only America first, America first.

(APPLAUSE)

Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.

(APPLAUSE)

Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength. I will fight for you with every breath in my body and I will never ever let you down.

(APPLAUSE)

America will start winning again, winning like never before.

(APPLAUSE)

We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.

(APPLAUSE)

We will build new roads and highways and bridges and airports and tunnels and railways all across our wonderful nation. We will get our people off of welfare and back to work, rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.

(APPLAUSE)

We will follow two simple rules; buy American and hire American.

(APPLAUSE)

We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world, but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first. We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example. We will shine for everyone to follow.

(APPLAUSE)

We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones and unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate from the face of the Earth.

(APPLAUSE)

At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other. When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.

(APPLAUSE)

The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity. We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.

(APPLAUSE)

There should be no fear. We are protected and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement. And most importantly, we will be protected by God.

(APPLAUSE)

Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving. We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action, constantly complaining, but never doing anything about it.

(APPLAUSE)

The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.

(APPLAUSE)

Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again.

We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow. A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions.

It's time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots.

(APPLAUSE)

We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms and we all salute the same great American flag.

(APPLAUSE)

And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the wind-swept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they will their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty creator.

(APPLAUSE)

So to all Americans in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again.

(APPLAUSE) Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.

Together, we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And yes, together we will make America great again.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless America.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

God bless America.

(APPLAUSE)

Further reading:

Donald Trumps inaugural address: Full text as prepared for delivery

Are Democrats being Donald Trumps pawns by boycotting his inauguration?

Donald Trumps through-the-looking-glass presidency starts today

After taking the oath of office, Donald Trump lays out his vision for the future of the United States. (The Washington Post)

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Donald Trump's full inauguration speech transcript, annotated - Washington Post