Donald Trump interested in vetting John Kasich as his deputy

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential presumptive nominee Donald Trump has said he is interested in vetting Ohio Governor John Kasich, the last among his party rivals to opt out of the race to the White House, as his vice presidential pick.

In an interview to CNN, Trump said he and his campaign has started to shortlist and compile "potential vice presidential" running mates which would include some of his former rivals in the Republican presidential primaries -- Ben Carson and Chris Christie.

As per the excerpts of the interview released by the television news channel, although Kasich has been critical of Trump's rhetoric and many of his proposals on the campaign trail, the real estate mogul insisted that he has "a very good relationship with John".

"I think John will be very helpful with Ohio," Trump said of Kasich and his home state, which will once again be a battleground state in November's general election, it reported.

Trump emerged as the presumptive nominee after his massive win in Indiana. In less than 24 hours of the results, two of his rivals - Senator Ted Cruz from Texas and Kasich - withdrew from the race to the White House, thus clearing his pathway to the nomination.

Primary elections in nine states are yet to be held. Since Trump is the only candidate left in the race, he being the party's presidential nominee at the Cleveland convention in July is merely a formality now.