Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (L) debates with Donald Trump in Florida last month. The two exchanged a string of heated insults but now Trump, who may need to court Rubio's delegates to earn the GOP nomination, says he would like to have Rubio in his Cabinet. File Photo by Gary I. Rothstein/UPI | License Photo

WASHINGTON, April 22 (UPI) -- Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said he would like to bring several of his former rivals into a Trump Cabinet, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who he derided during the campaign as "Little Marco."

Trump is the only candidate remaining who has a mathematical chance to lock up the nomination before July's GOP convention, but he may fall short of the 1,237 delegates needed to do so. If that's the case, Trump will need to court delegates for other candidates. The prime target for that is Rubio, who still stands third in the delegate count despite having dropped out of the race after losing his home state primary on March 15. Rubio delegates from several states may be free to vote for a different candidate and if Trump falls short of the 1,237 he would be put in a position of having to lobby his former rival to surrender his delegates.


Trump said in a Fox News interview Friday morning that he would like to have Rubio, who will leave the Senate after this year, as a member of his Cabinet.

"The party has to unite. If we unite, this party is going to have a huge victory," Trump said. "We are going to win places other people have no chance of winning."

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He mentioned Rubio and two other former presidential candidates by name.

"Frankly, Marco, I'd love to have involved," Trump said. "I can tell you that Ben Carson is a terrific guy. ... [New Jersey Gov.] Chris Christie is a fantastic guy. Both of them are tremendous people."

Carson and Christie have already endorsed Trump.

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