Donald Trump said he's creating a program similar to "The Apprentice" for poor New York City schoolchildren, an idea he credited to Newt Gingrich.

While Gingrich might not have snagged an endorsement from Trump following a meeting at the real estate mogul and reality TV star's Manhattan office, it appears the former House Speaker struck a different sort of deal to create the new program.

"As a number of you know, I've been making the case that we need to work very hard to help poor children in poor neighborhoods acquire opportunities to work," Gingrich said following the pair's meeting. "And I've asked him to take one of the poorest schools in New York, and basically offer at least 10 apprenticeships to kids from those schools, to get them into the world of work and get them into an opportunity to earn money, and get them into a habit of showing up and realizing that hard work gets rewarded and that America's all about the work ethic."

It's not clear whether the new program would be developed into a television program like Trump's "The Apprentice" on NBC, which has gone through several iterations since its 2004 premiere.

If nothing else, the plan would appear to keep promoting Gingrich's somewhat controversial push to encourage more relaxed child labor standards, especially in poorer communities.

"Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits for working and have nobody around them who works. So they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday. They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of I do this and you give me cash unless it's illegal," he explained last week in Des Moines.

Trump explained: "He did mention if I could do something for some of the kids in very, very poor schools throughout the city. I thought it was a great idea. We call it an apprenticeship, and I think we all know about "The Apprentice." We're going to be picking 10, young, wonderful children, and we're going to make them 'apprenti.' We're going to have a little fun with it, and I think it's going to be something that is really going to prove results. But it was Newt's idea, and I think it's a great idea."

Trump plans to host a debate later this month in Iowa for Republican presidential candidates. Gingrich is the only candidate to have pledged to attend.

The two were effusive with praise for each other in their brief remarks following their meeting; Gingrich said he was a "big fan" of Trump, while Trump said he was amazed by Gingrich's success and "how it's really resonated with so many people."