WATCH: Gov. Burgum on his phone call from Trump after not being picked for VP

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said former President Donald Trump indicated in a phone call this week that there could be a Cabinet role for him in the future.

Burgum, the one-time Trump primary challenger, was on the short list of vice presidential picks before Trump settled on Sen. JD Vance as his running mate.

“But there’s going to be no roles for any Cabinet leaders unless he’s elected,” Burgum told PBS News’ Geoff Bennett. “We have to get him elected first, everything else is a hypothetical.”

Bennett asked Burgum in which Cabinet post he felt he could add the greatest value.

“I would say that having spent most of my career in technology, I think we’re all underestimating the impact of AI that it’s going to have on government and the needs that we have,” Burgum said.

When asked about Trump’s path to victory in the electoral college, Burgum pointed to the convention’s message of unity.

“If every Republican in America votes for President Trump, we might still lose an election because there aren’t enough Republicans. This race will be decided by independents. So as a party, we have to be in a position to attract those voters,” Burgum said. “When President Trump had this near-death experience on Saturday night, one of the first things he said was, ‘Hey, I’m ripping up my speech and I’m going to deliver a different speech on Thursday night that’s more about unity.’ I think that gives a lot of hope to the group that you’re talking about.”