Earlier in the day, Trump had released a four-page press advisory detailing how much he had done to help Republicans get up and down the ballot. The list ranged from endorsements Trump issued on behalf of obscure secretary of state nominees to the hundreds of millions of dollars he helped raise for Republicans running high-profile Senate campaigns. At huge rallies over the weekend, Trump read a slate of Republican candidates while delivering a speech that resembled his own 2024 presidential campaign speech. The message was clear: Trump was the leader of the Republican Party, and the party should thank Trump for his expected victories on Election Day. The former president has been tacitly putting himself on the ballot in recent weeks as he campaigned with 2022 candidates — and he admitted to stalling the 2024 campaign he had hoped to launch before the midterm elections. But as the returns began to come in Tuesday afternoon, the Republican debacle that Trump’s handpicked candidates drove never materialized. In one of the nation’s most high-profile races, Trump’s pick for the Pennsylvania Senate, Dr. Mehmet Oz, lost to Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, according to NBC News. The result cost the GOP a Senate seat. In Michigan, Trump-endorsed Republican Tudor Dixon lost a gubernatorial race, while 2020 reelectionist Christina Karamo lost her Trump-backed bid for secretary of state, according to NBC. In Arizona, Cary Lake, a former news anchor turned gubernatorial candidate who is one of Trump’s most high-profile protégés, trailed Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs early Wednesday morning in a race that NBC deemed too early to call. Trump’s Senate endorser Blake Masters, who is challenging Arizona Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, also trailed in a race that NBC said was too early to call. To be sure, Trump also had some big wins on Tuesday. Ohio Republican Senate candidate JD Vance defeated Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan to win one of the nation’s most hotly contested seats, according to NBC. Earlier this year, Vance won a crowded GOP primary thanks in large part to Trump’s support, which carries unparalleled weight with Ohio’s Republican base. In North Carolina, Trump-backed Republican Senate candidate Ted Budd defeated Democrat Cheri Beasley, according to NBC. Deep red in Alabama, heavily favored Republican Katie Britt also won her Senate seat. “We supported Katie and she did fantastic, 68 to 30,” Trump said during remarks at Mar-a-Lago that began just after 10 p.m. ET and lasted less than five minutes. But the most resounding Republican victory Tuesday didn’t come from a Trump heir, it came from his most likely challenger for the Republican nomination in 2024. GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won re-election by nearly 20 percentage points , according to NBC News. Trump took a shot at the Florida governor a few days earlier, calling him “Ron DeSanctimonious” at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. While Trump declined to endorse DeSantis, however, the Florida resident told reporters he voted for the incumbent on Tuesday. However, DeSantis’ triumph was not one of the victories Trump celebrated at Mar-a-Lago.
While the governor gathered hundreds of supporters at a victory party in Tampa, Trump spent most of the night gathering with aides and friends at a table in his private club. After spending weeks painting himself as the centerpiece of his party’s midterm election effort, Trump didn’t appear to have a ready message to send to his loyal supporters Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, Trump had told streaming service NewsNation that he was ready to take credit for Republican victories but not blame for their losses. “Well, I think if they win, I should take all the credit,” he said. “And if they lose, I shouldn’t be blamed at all, all right. But it’ll probably be just the opposite.” “Usually what would happen is, when they’re doing well, I won’t be given any credit, and if they’re doing badly, they’ll blame everything on me,” he said. “So I’m prepared for anything, but we’re going to defend.” But being on the defensive isn’t where Trump hoped to go in the midterms. Instead, he and his closest aides planned to use what they believed would be massive Republican momentum to help energize Republicans for Trump’s 2024 presidential run. Over the weekend, Trump suggested he would announce his third run for the presidency on Nov. 15, a decision he reached only after seriously considering whether to announce his campaign on Monday night. How Trump will use Tuesday’s disappointing results as fuel for his 2024 campaign narrative remains to be seen. A Trump spokesman did not respond to questions early Wednesday morning from CNBC about whether Tuesday’s results would affect the former president’s 2024 launch plans. But one of Trump’s enduring traits as both a businessman and a politician has been his ability to emerge from seemingly difficult situations and turn hard luck to his advantage.