“It’s too late,” said Stan Hubbard, a major GOP donor and Minnesota-based media mogul. “You don’t just file last minute.”

Each state has its own complex rules and deadlines for third-party candidates to qualify for the general election ballot — an extremely complicated process that requires thousands of signatures, time, organization and money…

A third-party candidate would continue to divide the party and have a long-term negative impact by infuriating Trump supporters and alienating them from the party, said Fred Malek, a veteran GOP fundraiser.

“There is absolutely no talk or consideration of a third party candidate from any serious Republican,” he said. “Although a lot of us prefer a candidate other than Trump, the strong sense is that we must have a unified party post convention to have any chance of reversing the leftward lurch of the last seven years.”