It was meant to be a crowning evening for the former president, a chance to show that he remained the axis around which the Republican Party still orbited.

It ended up a night of missed opportunities and disappointments — and rumblings of unrest within the party.

Donald Trump spent Tuesday evening at his club in Palm Beach, hosting a lavish midterm election watch party for a who’s who of MAGA elite and reporters from some of the top media outlets in the country, invited there by his team.

But as the results began trickling in at Mar-a-Lago, the site of his most recent legal troubles, the party took a turn. A tropical storm barreled toward the east coast of Florida, forcing some in the press to flee for the airport and a quick flight out. Then, a different type of storm — a Republican wave — failed to materialize.

Trump was left without the triumph he was hoping for.

“Interesting evening,” he said to reporters before giving an update to the crowd on how some key Senate candidates were faring so far. “There are some races that are hot and heavy, and we’re all watching them here.”