Indiana Governor Mike Pence has dodged questions about the 'negative' nature of Donald Trump's campaign during the pair's first television interview together.

The two men at the top of the Republican ticket sat down with CBS' 60 Minutes in Trump's New York residence shortly after Pence was announced as his vice presidential candidate.

When quizzed about previous comments he made about negative campaigning and Trump's style, Pence refused to be drawn into criticizing the Republican nominee.

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Indiana Governor Mike Pence has dodged questions about the 'negative' nature of Donald Trump's campaign during the pair's first television interview together

Trump said he has not asked Pence to be more negative and use phrases such as 'Crooked Hillary' during the campaign

'You said negative campaigning is wrong and a campaign ought to demonstrate the basic decency of the candidate,' veteran journalist Lesley Stahl asked.

'With that in mind, what do you think about your running mate's campaign and the tone and the negativity of it?'

Pence replied: 'I think this is a good man who's been talking about the issues the American people care about.'

After being pushed to answer, the Indiana Government said: 'In the essay that I wrote a long time ago, I said campaigns ought to be about something more important than just one candidate's election.

The two men at the top of the Republican ticket sat down with CBS' 60 Minutes in Trump's New York residence shortly after Trump announced Pence as his vice presidential candidate

'And this campaign and Donald Trump's candidacy has been about the issues the American people care about. They see America in decline at home and abroad.'

Trump then jumped in to help his running mate, steering the interview towards his use of name-calling.

'We're different people. I understand that. I'll give you an example,' the reality television star said.

'Hillary Clinton is a liar... Hillary Clinton is a crook... I call her "Crooked Hillary." She's crooked Hillary. He won't, I didn't ask him to do it, but I don't think he should do it because it's different for him.'

'We're different people. I understand that. I'll give you an example,' Trump said about Indiana Governor Mike Pence

The full 60 Minutes interview with Donald Trump and Mike Pence will air on CBS on Sunday night

It comes after it was revealed the presumptive Republican nominee locked in Pence as his vice presidential candidate after being told he wasn't picking 'a new best friend', reports say.

Trump, who officially announced Pence as his running mate in a tweet on Friday, fielded last ditch calls from other ticket hopefuls and 'hesitated' over the choice, the New York Times reports.

But he was convinced to stick with Pence by members of his inner circle who stressed he needed to pick someone who could help unite the party, rather than a friend.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump introduces Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate in New York

Indiana Governor Mike Pence reacts with his wife, Karen, as they arrive for a Welcome Home Rally

The newspaper added Trump has chosen a running mate who is viewed by those inside the Republican Party and in Washington D.C. as 'dependable' and 'sturdy'.

However, Pence is also an unknown to most voters, with a CBS News poll finding almost 90 per cent of Americans do not know enough about him to have an opinion.

The Trump campaign furiously denied reports the real estate billionaire wanted to change vice presidential horses in mid-stream but resigned himself to Pence when he learned it was too late to leave him at the altar.

New reports claim the presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump locked in Mike Pence as his vice presidential candidate after being told he wasn't picking 'a new best friend'

The Trump campaign furiously denied reports the real estate billionaire wanted to change vice presidential horses in mid-stream but resigned himself to Pence when he learned it was too late

NBC News reported that before he boarded his private jet to return to the east coast, the Republicans' presumptive nominee was calling his top aides to see if he could walk it all back.

'He was making some phone calls to try to assess if he was locked into the Pence choice or if he could make a change,' an NBC reporter said during a midday broadcast.