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It amounted to Trump's biggest moment yet in his 11 days in office. Blanketed by television networks, it was also a do-over, as Trump cut a somber and statesmanlike figure after a chaotic, acrimonious start to his administration.
It was a sweet moment of vindication for the Republican Party -- especially its social conservative and evangelical wings who had defied expectations that they would desert Trump over his three marriages and often vulgar tone.
Whatever he said, and whatever he did, conservatives clung on to the tiger's tail, convinced Trump would deliver them a Supreme Court pick they could get behind. Looking on were Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, savoring their reward.
"Christmas just came early for conservatives," said Sarah Isgur Flores, spokeswoman for Attorney General designate Jeff Sessions, encapsulating the universally positive response to Gorsuch from conservatives.
Amid growing rumblings about Trump's behavior and demeanor and the competence of his administration from inside the GOP, the announcement was an expertly choreographed moment that could help knit the party together.
Meet Neil Gorsuch: a fly-fishing Scalia fan
Meet Neil Gorsuch: A fly-fishing Scalia fan
Even his critics grudgingly admitted Trump's skills as a political impresario took some beating.
"Whatever u think of him as President (what I think is no secret) Trump's darn good at TV show production. President Trump, the Reality Show," CNN contributor Ana Navarro tweeted.
Summoned to Washington
One person close to the decision said both Gorsuch and the other finalist, Thomas Hardiman, had been summoned to Washington.
In the end, Hardiman only drove a few hours east of Pittsburgh.
"The reality is that to the best of my knowledge he never left the state of Pennsylvania," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday night after the announcement. "He never was in DC, nor did he ever leave the commonwealth."
The administration was taking extraordinary measures to build suspense and keep the final selection under wraps for as close to the announcement as possible.
White House sources acknowledged Tuesday night they left the impression with reporters that he was coming to Washington and did not seek to dispute suggestions. Hardiman appeared to play along. One source said Hardiman was given the impression that there could be a spot for him should another vacancy open up.
Hobby Lobby and executive power: Gorsuch's key rulings
Hobby Lobby and executive power: Neil Gorsuch's key rulings
Sources inside the White House and close to Hardiman said earlier Tuesday that Hardiman was asked to come to Washington. Other news outlets reported before the announcement that Hardiman was going to be at the White House event, though CNN was never told that was the intent.
After he was seen leaving his Pittsburgh home, a CNN producer last saw Hardiman again at a highway gas station more than 100 miles east of Pittsburgh in the direction of Washington.
Meanwhile, sources familiar with what transpired said that Gorsuch had given the press waiting outside his house in Boulder, Colorado, the slip on Monday by sneaking out on a dirt road and heading to the airport. Spicer said Gorsuch was flown to Washington on a military aircraft and taken to a hotel, before being spirited unseen into the White House Tuesday night.
His debut could hardly have gone better for the President and its flawless execution set up a political climb for Democrats who vowed to oppose whoever he picked.
He lauded Gorsuch's credentials as beyond dispute, boasting about a resume bloated by studies at Columbia, Harvard and Oxford.
"The qualifications of Judge Gorsuch are beyond dispute. I only hope Democrats and Republicans can come together for once, for the good of the country," Trump said.
How Trump's Supreme Court pick could affect millions worldwide
How Trump's Supreme Court pick could affect millions worldwide
The President said he had spent considerable time pouring over the writings and decisions of Gorsuch, a man of the outdoors who fishes, hunts and skis and currently sits on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Tensions erupt in Senate after chaotic day on Trump nominees
But the President is also known to place great value in someone's appearance and might have concluded that Gorsuch, tall, fit with a square jaw and immaculately cropped gray hair looks the part of a Supreme Court Justice.
Few Presidents get to name a justice within a few days of their inauguration, and Trump can thank McConnell for his decision to block Obama's nominee to replace Scalia, Judge Merrick Garland, for the best part of a year.
Gorsuch's nomination, assuming he is confirmed, will cement the prevailing ideological balance of the court before Scalia's death, with four conservatives, four liberals and Justice Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote.
Known for a florid pen, a sense of humor and unimpeachable conservative positions on religious liberty, guns, business regulation and administrative power, Gorsuch may be the perfect candidate to emulate the operatic flamboyance and preference for legal textualism and originalism of Scalia, who died nearly a year ago.
"He is Scalia, in many respects," said Rick Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator who is now a CNN contributor.
With the late justice's widow, Maureen, in the audience, Gorsuch called Scalia "a lion of the law."
Keeping his promises
Neil Gorsuch: Scalia's true heir?
Trump's Court pick: Views from all sides (opinion)
Trump, meanwhile, is turning out to be a man who keeps his promises, however much controversy they ignite.
In 11 days in office, he has pushed to repeal Obamacare, slapped a temporary ban on immigrants from seven Muslim nations, pulled America out of a vast trans-Pacific trade pact and ordered the building of a border wall.
Now he has delivered a conservative jurist, a move that will likely do much to solidify his political position within his own party.
The nomination could also buy him some political capital amid raging controversies over the inept rollout of his immigration measures that kept many Republicans in the dark and raised questions over the basic competence of his administration.
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Supporting a Supreme Court nominee is one of the most intricate tests a White House will face however — the first 48 hours will be crucial for Gorsuch despite apparently favorable winds behind his nomination. Any oversights in vetting of his personal, legal and financial history on the part of the administration are likely to be ruthlessly exploited by liberals who oppose his nomination.
If it was a night to savor for the GOP, it was a bitter one for Democrats.
This could have been the moment when a President Hillary Clinton unveiled the nomination for Supreme Court justice that would have the potential to tilt the bench towards liberals for a generation.
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