Was John Kasich Offered the President's Job if He Agreed to Be Donald Trump's Running Mate?

staff@people.com (Kathy Ehrich Dowd)
Updated
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Donald Trump might be the one to occupy the Oval Office if he wins in November, but is it possible that he's interested to delegate the specifics of governing to his vice president?

One report indicates yes.

According to The New York Times, Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., approached onetime primary foe John Kasich with a seemingly unprecedented offer.

The paper reports that Trump Jr. reached out to a senior advisor to Kasich in May and asked whether the Ohio governor would be interested to join the ticket if he could potentially become the most powerful vice president in American history.



When asked what that meant, Trump Jr. allegedly explained that Kasich would be put in charge of both foreign and domestic policy.

Perplexed, the advisor questioned what that would leave Trump to do.

Trump Jr.'s alleged response? The businessman causally said that his father would be busy "making America great again."

The Times reports that the Trump team viewed Kasich as the dream running mate, but knew wooing him would be an uphill battle since the politician expressed zero interest in the job. Ultimately, the mogul chose Indiana Gov. Mike Pence to join him on the ticket.

VIDEO: Donald Trump Chooses Gov. Mike Pence as Running Mate


On Wednesday afternoon, just hours before Pence is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention, Trump addressed the flap without calling out the Times story directly.

"John Kasich was never asked by me to be V.P." he wrote, adding that he "Just arrived in Cleveland - will be a great two days!"



Kasich and Trump repeatedly clashed during the Republican primary, with Trump even mocking the way Kasich eats.

"He has the news conference all the time when he's eating," Trump said in April. "I have never seen a human being eat in such a disgusting fashion."

Earlier in April, Trump also said Kasich should drop out of the race.

"All he's doing is just he goes from place to place, and loses, and he keeps on running," he said.

Kasich ultimately dropped out of the race in May, after briefly aligning with onetime adversary Ted Cruz.