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.

Republican Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney announced Thursday that she is endorsing Democratic Michigan Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is running in one of the most competitive House districts in the country.

“I have come to know Elissa as a good and honorable public servant,” Cheney said in a statement to The Associated Press. “While Elissa and I have our policy disagreements, at a time when our nation is facing threats at home and abroad, we need serious, responsible, substantive members like Elissa in Congress.”

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) first heard that he had been endorsed by former President Trump when he looked at his phone.

“I got a text message: ‘You’ve been endorsed,’” Donalds told The Hill. 

The first-term lawmaker was surprised, but not shocked. He has been a supporter of Trump and has a good relationship with him. 

Republican candidates in contested primaries this year have lobbied hard for Trump’s backing, and most who get his blessing have gone on to win the party’s nomination.

Former President Donald Trump‘s influence over the Republican Party will be put to the test on Tuesday in Ohio’s GOP Senate primary, where his last-minute endorsement has propelled the once-lagging candidate J.D. Vance into a tie for the lead.

Mr. Vance, author of the bestselling book “Hillbilly Elegy,” had been struggling in polls for weeks, stalled behind GOP rival and former state treasurer Josh Mandel, who held a firm lead over all seven Republican candidates and had won several high-profile endorsements.

If you doubt the power of Donald Trump’s endorsement, look no further than the Ohio Senate race.

Since April 15, when Trump backed J.D. Vance in the Republican primary, the venture capitalist and author of “Hillbilly Elegy” has zoomed to the top of the public polls. Vance jumped from 11 percent of likely voters in March to 23 percent now, according to Fox News.

A series of May primaries represent the biggest test yet of Donald Trump’s post-presidential influence on the Republican electorate, with the outcomes carrying implications for his potential third White House campaign and control of Congress.

GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is increasingly using his clout with Republican voters to elevate political allies throughout the state, marking the first real effort to build a political network by a governor with a notoriously small inner circle.

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on Sunday endorsed the re-election campaign of his Republican colleague Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who faces a tough challenger this year supported by former President Donald Trump.

"I'm endorsing my dear friend Lisa Murkowski," Manchin said on CNN's "State of the Union." "Alaska could only be so lucky to have her continue to serve them."

Murkowski returned the favor, saying she will endorse Manchin, who is up for re-election in 2024, if he decides to run.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, Sens. Joe Manchin and Lisa Murkowski appeared in a joint TV interview on Sunday and exchanged endorsements.

Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, and Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, appeared on CNN's "State of the Union," during which Manchin endorsed her and called her a "dear friend."

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski endorsed each other Sunday during a joint TV interview — as Manchin defended his opposition of President Biden’s $2 trillion social spending bill, saying he’s “not a Washington Democrat.”

The lawmakers put up a bipartisan front during their appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” ahead of their upcoming re-election races.

“I’m endorsing my dear friend Lisa Murkowski. Alaska could only be so lucky to have her continue to serve them,” Manchin, of West Virginia, said on the show.