Newt Gingrich on Wednesday said Donald Trump Donald TrumpCelebs, lawmakers light up WH red carpet at state dinner Top GOP lawmaker: Voter fraud can't sway presidential election Trump lawyer: 'Shame on Paul Ryan’ MORE’s field of possible running mates is down to two people. 
 
 “He clearly, I think, is down to two,” Gingrich said on Fox News’s “Hannity," predicting the choice is now between himself and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, knocking out other contenders like New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions Jeff SessionsGOP senators avoid Trump questions on rigged election Some in GOP say Trump has gone too far Ryan 'confident' election will be carried out fairly MORE. 
 
 “I think Trump has a tough call because he’s got two really good but really different choices,” the former Speaker said. 
 
 Gingrich was full of praise for Pence and said he could be a "stabilizing force" for Republicans who are "jittery" about Trump. 
 
 
 
 “Mike Pence is a great personal friend,” Gingrich said. "We’ve worked together on many projects over the years. He had a fine career in the U.S. House and ended up as the fourth-ranking Republican in the House. He’s done a fine job and been a very good governor of Indiana.” 
 
 Gingrich painted himself as an outsider who is more “oriented toward moving the great base of the party and communicating big ideas." 
 
 “In many ways, Donald Trump is like a pirate,” he said. "He’s outside the normal system, he gets things done, he’s bold, he’s actually like a figure out of a movie," Gingrich said. "And in a lot of ways, my entire career has been a little like a pirate. I’ve taken on the establishment in both parties. I’ve been very prepared to fight the media." 
 
 “One very hard question he’s gotta weigh on the way to California – do you really want a two-pirate ticket or do you want to take a very solid guy?” Gingrich continued. 
 
 Trump met with both potential VP candidates in Indiana on Wednesday. Gingrich said his meeting lasted more than two hours and also included Trump's children Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric, son-in-law Jared Kushner and campaign manager Paul Manafort. 
 
 Gingrich said he doesn't think Trump has yet made a final decision, but he expects a phone call with the verdict Thursday afternoon. 
 
 Trump said Wednesday that he will announce his choice at 11 a.m. on Friday in New York. 
 
 “I’m certainly one of the people that will be sitting by the phone tomorrow to see what he decides," Gingrich said. ||||| Donald Trump leaves the residence of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in Indianapolis on July 13. | AP Photo Trump advisers split on VP pick The presumptive nominee's inner circle raced to Indiana amid concerns he was moving away from choosing Pence. 
 
 The deliberations over who Donald Trump should pick as his running mate reached a fever pitch on Wednesday, as members of his inner circle scrambled to fly to Indiana because they were increasingly convinced Trump was leaning away from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and toward New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, according to a campaign source with direct knowledge of the situation. 
 
 Trump's top adviser Paul Manafort, three of Trump's adult children, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner jetted to meet him in Indiana, where the candidate had stayed overnight, in an effort to intervene as he nears finalizing his choice for a vice presidential pick. 
 
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 Trump remained in Indiana due to a "technical problem" with his plane, after having met with Pence on Sunday and appearing with him at a rally on Tuesday night. 
 
 But even as media reports swirled around Trump’s VP search, the presumptive Republican nominee is keeping his options open, at least publicly, telling Fox News’ Bret Baier on Wednesday that there are multiple contenders still in the mix. 
 
 "I am narrowing it down. I mean, I’m at three, potentially four," said. "But in my own mind, I probably am thinking about two." 
 
 Privately, Trump’s closest advisers are eager to sway him. Kushner, the millionaire real estate developer who has emerged as a de facto campaign manager in recent weeks, is said to strongly oppose putting Christie on the ticket. Notably, Christie was the federal prosecutor who put Kushner's father in prison a decade ago. 
 
 On Wednesday morning — the day after Trump had multiple conversations with Pence and two days after Trump had a positive meeting with Christie — Kushner and his wife, Ivanka, along with Trump and his sons, Eric and Donald Jr., gathered at Pence's residence along with Manafort for another meeting. 
 
 While Trump's advisers remain divided over who he should choose, they seem to recognize their influence is limited. 
 
 "Trump is going to pick whoever he's going to pick," said one campaign source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity Wednesday to freely discuss recent campaign deliberations. 
 
 Working in Christie's favor is a personal rapport with Trump himself from a relationship that dates back more than a decade. 
 
 "They know each other," said one source close to Trump. "Compare that relationship to Pence, who Trump has interacted with five times and who endorsed Trump's rival two days before the Indiana primary that Trump won by 18 points." 
 
 Trump on Wednesday talked up Christie in his interview with Fox. "I tell you Chris Christie is somebody I have liked for a long time," Trump told Baier. "He is a total professional. He’s a good guy, by the way. A lot of people don’t understand that." 
 
 But he also had highly complimentary words for Pence. When Baier asked about the morning meeting with his kids and the Indiana governor, Trump said, "It went really well. High quality person, wonderful guy. He's always been very respectful to me and really appreciate, you know, I think appreciates what I've done politically. And we had a great meeting." 
 
 If Pence is the pick, it will come as a relief to Manafort, who is pushing hard for him. According to multiple sources, Manafort has long been opposed to selecting Newt Gingrich to the ticket (and to a lesser extent Christie), believing that the loquacious former speaker would be undisciplined and difficult to manage. 
 
 Kushner would prefer Gingrich, according to multiple sources involved in campaign deliberations. That's at least in part driven by his relationship with GOP mega-donor and Republican Jewish Coalition founder Sheldon Adelson, who is pushing Gingrich, as well as his own antipathy toward Christie. 
 
 Gingrich and Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, at this point a long shot to be added to the ticket but a trusted friend and adviser to Trump, were also meeting with Trump in Indiana on Wednesday. Trump spoke with Christie by phone. 
 
 On a phone call with Manafort on Tuesday, pollster Tony Fabrizio, armed with new data showing Trump and Hillary Clinton statistically tied in Florida and Virginia, reportedly expressed his belief that retired Gen. Michael Flynn, a registered Democrat also on Trump's short list, would be a smart choice because of his potential general election appeal to independent voters and those for whom national security is a top consideration, according to a source familiar with the conversation. Fabrizio later disputed that account in an email. 
 
 Flynn's stock, however, seems to have fallen, since his interview Sunday morning in which he expressed his pro-choice stance on abortion. 
 
 Trump was focused on making a final decision Wednesday ahead of a fundraising swing to southern California on Thursday. On Wednesday evening, he tweeted that he will make a formal announcement of his VP choice on Friday morning in New York. Timing is also of the essence for Pence, who cannot run for reelection and vice president simultaneously and thus faces a noon deadline Friday to withdraw from the gubernatorial election ballot. 
 
 Pence spoke briefly at a Westfield, Indiana, rally Tuesday evening and attended a fundraiser with the billionaire businessman earlier in the day. Trump praised Pence, calling him a “good man,” and teased him as his running mate to the Indiana crowd Tuesday. 
 
 “I don’t know if he’s going to be your governor or your vice president,” Trump said. “Who the hell knows?” 
 

– After days of mounting suspense, the finale of Donald Trump's VP search will take place Friday morning. Trump tweeted Wednesday night that he will make the announcement in Manhattan at 11am. His tweet followed what CNN calls "frenzied, last-minute try-outs" in person and over the phone from the four men believed to still be in the running: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The latter three met with Trump separately Wednesday in Indianapolis. Trump was joined in Indiana by top advisers and children Eric, Don Jr., and Ivanka after his plane popped a tire Tuesday night, keeping him in the state for longer than planned, sources say. "I'm narrowing it down. I mean I'm at three, potentially four. But in my own mind, I probably am thinking about two," Trump, who will spend Thursday fundraising in California, told Fox's Bret Baier on Wednesday. A source tells Politico that Trump's inner circle is worried he's leaning toward Christie after earlier preferring Pence. The Hill reports that Gingrich told Fox's Hannity he believes Trump has narrowed it down to himself and Pence. Gingrich said that he and Trump are both "pirates" who have taken on the establishment, while Pence is a "great personal friend" and a "very good governor" who could be a "stabilizing force" for the GOP. "One very hard question he's gotta weigh on the way to California—do you really want a two-pirate ticket or do you want to take a very solid guy?" he said. (Trump has pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton in some key swing states.)