Trump wanted his daughter Ivanka to be his vice presidential pick in 2016, according to a new book from the president's former deputy campaign chairman

• Then-candidate Donald Trump wanted his daughter, Ivanka, to be his running mate in 2016, a former campaign aide writes in a new book.
• Rick Gates, who served as campaign deputy chairman in 2016, says in his new book that Trump pushed for her consideration as VP for weeks.
• "She’s bright, she’s smart, she’s beautiful, and the people would love her!" Trump said, according to Gates.

Then-candidate Donald Trump wanted to name his daughter, Ivanka, as his vice presidential pick in 2016, a former campaign aide claims in his new book.

Rick Gates, who worked as deputy chairman for the president's campaign in 2016, says that Trump floated the idea of Ivanka, a businesswoman who had never held any public office, during discussions of running-mate choices in June 2016.

"I think it should be Ivanka. What about Ivanka as my VP?", Trump said in a staff meeting with his daughter present, according to Gates' book, "Wicked Game: An Insider's Story on How Trump Won, Mueller Failed and America Lost."

Trump was met with "silence" and "she just looked surprised," Gates writes, according to excerpts of the book published by Bloomberg. "We all knew Trump well enough to keep our mouths shut and not laugh."

"She's bright, she's smart, she's beautiful, and the people would love her!" Trump said.

Gates writes that Trump pushed for Ivanka's consideration for weeks and even had his staff poll voters for their opinions of her alongside other potential VP picks.

"She didn't poll tremendously high, but higher than we expected, and that only added to the seriousness of her consideration," Gates says.

Eventually, Ivanka shut down the conversation, telling her father it wasn't a good idea, according to Gates.

Still, she did provide her input on selecting a candidate, playing the adviser role to Trump, a position she later secured and has held for the past three years.

Trump settled on then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence in an announcement on July 15.

Gates became one of many former Trump campaign aides who pleaded guilty during Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation on Russia interference in the 2016 election.

He was sentenced to 45 days in prison, a $20,000 fine, and three years probation in December 2019 based on two counts of conspiracy and false statements provided in the Mueller probe. His new book comes out Oct. 13.

The news comes a day after a New York Times bombshell report on Trump's tax documents revealed that nine of his entities paid nearly $100,000 to Ivanka's hair and makeup artist. The payments were written off as a business expense.