Washington: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's camp reached out to Ohio Governor John Kasich with an offer to make him the "most powerful vice president in history", according to a media report.
In May, Donald Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reached out to a senior adviser of Governor Kasich, who left the presidential race just a few weeks before, The New York Times Magazine reported.
As a candidate, Kasich declared in March that Trump was "really not prepared to be president of the United States" and the following month he took the highly unusual step of coordinating with his rival Senator Ted Cruz in an effort to deny Trump the nomination.
But according to the Kasich adviser, Donald Jr. wanted to make him an offer nonetheless "Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history?"
When Kasich's adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father's vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy, the report said.
Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of, to which Donald Jr. said, "Making America great again".
Ultimately, Trump chose Governor Mike Pence of Indiana, not Kasich, to be his running mate. Donald Jr, however, has disputed the Kasich adviser's account.
"You know the way I conduct myself. Do you really believe I would say, '(John Kasich) is in charge of foreign and domestic policy and (Donald Trump) will focus on making America great again'? What am I, a meathead?" he told CNN.
Multiple sources close to Kasich were quoted as saying that Donald Jr., tried to entice Kasich with a position as the most powerful vice president in history, but he turned it down.
Trump also denied ever personally asking Kasich to be his running mate in a tweet.
"John Kasich was never asked by me to be V.P. Just arrived in Cleveland - will be a great two days!" Trump tweeted.
Kasich sources said the vice presidential back-and-forth began when Donald Trump Jr. reached out to Kasich's adviser, shortly after Kasich dropped out of the race in May.
Trump's communications adviser Jason Miller also insisted on Wednesday that, while a call occurred between Donald Trump Jr. and top Kasich adviser John Weaver, a vice presidential offer was never on the table.
"It's completely ridiculous. There was never an offer made. It's completely made up. Governor Kasich is just being a sore loser," Miller said.
Kasich has refused to endorse Trump and will not speak at the ongoing Republican National Convention even though it is taking place in his home state.
