Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may have been the least surprised person in her campaign when President Trump defeated her for the White House, a top aide said.

Jennifer Palmieri, the communications director for Clinton's campaign, told CBS News that Clinton was saddened by the defeat but not surprised. She said the campaign was so brutal that Clinton was ready for any result.

"I think she's one of the people who's least surprised that she lost," Palmieri said.

She added that Clinton "was less surprised of the rise of Sen. [Bernie] Sanders than others and Trump's win."

Palmieri said Clinton knew the campaign would be tough, which led to a lot of soul searching about whether she actually wanted to run for the presidency.

She said the former secretary of state knew Republicans would go after her and the press would pile on during the campaign. But, she thought she was the best candidate.

Clinton "decided to do it because she thought she was the person who could best be president and that she was the Democrat that was best positioned to be able to win," she said.