While he'll never admit it, Donald Trump has suffered a rather humiliating night at the US Midterm elections and it could end any chance he has of returning to the White House.
The former US President, who lost out to Joe Biden back in 2020, has been heavily involved in campaigning for the Republican party and has backed a number of candidates.
Americans have been voting to decide who sits in the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the Republicans set to take the former from the Democrats, but the latter remains on a knife-edge.
The speculated 'red wave' has not materialised but the GOP will now be able to block President Biden, but the biggest loser from the Midterms appears to be Trump.
The Midterms usually swing towards the opposition party but that has not happened this week - and it may indicate that Trump will not have the support to win the 2024 presidency.
Despite not being on the ballet during the Midterms, so called because they fall in the middle of a President's four-year term, Trump has cast a huge shadow over them.
Last night, the former The Apprentice star made a brief speech from his Mar-a-Lago home in which he claimed an overwhelming victory for his endorsed candidates.
While usually very talkative at such events inside the large ballroom at his Florida mansion, Trump delivered a short and solitary speech in which he simply said it had been an "interesting evening".
He then sat entrenched at a large table along with some of his most trusted advisors as he watched the election results come in on Fox News on a large screen.
On his Truth social media platform, he wrote: "174 wins and 9 losses, A GREAT EVENING, and the Fake News Media, together with their partner in crime, the Democrats, are doing everything possible to play it down. Amazing job by some really fantastic candidates!"
Trump had expected the Midterms to solidify his position and set him up strongly for another presidential bid, but this was far from the case.
Republican Senate candidate Katie Britt won in Alabama, although it was considered a foregone conclusion already, and Republican JD Vance did get a Senate win in Ohio.
But in the very high-profile battle in swing state Pennsylvania, Trump-backed candidate Mehmet Oz lost his Senate race to Democrat John Fetterman.
Trump's victory in Pennsylvania helped deliver him the White House in 2016, and this week he was back in the critical swing state to get more Replublican votes.
In the small town of Latrobe, Trump warned that continued Democratic control in Washington would lead to more crime and unfettered immigration.
"If you want safety and security for your family, you need to vote every single Democrat out of office," he said.
"There's only one choice - if you support the decline and fall of America then you must vote for the radical Democrats. If you want to stop the destruction of our country then you must vote Republican in a giant red wave."
Tim Michels, Mr Trump's anointed pick to run for governor of Wisconsin, lost to incumbent Governor Tony Evers.
At the time of writing, it's a close battle for governor in Arizona, with Republican candidate Kari Lake said to be under consideration for Trump's running mate as vice-president if he decides to run.
Trump's influence was clearly not enough, or sent voters towards the democrats, so it's left Republicans second-guessing his political instincts.
The close races for Trump-endorsed candidates appeared to confound the former president - and Republican strategists have blamed him for the 'red wave' failing to appear.
"Tonight's results lie squarely at the feet of Donald J Trump," a Republican strategist who wanted to remain anonymous told The Independent.
"Had he not endorsed extremely flawed candidates in the primary, we would be having an amazing night tonight. Instead, we are losing very winnable races."
Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee spokesperson, said that Trump held some blame but there were other larger factors.
One Republican winner who Trump has not spoken kindly of is Florida governor Ron DeSantis, who is his potential rival to be the Republican presidential candidiate .
Mr DeSantis won a landslide victory in the Midterms, underlining his popularity, but Trump told Fox News that his possible opponent should stay out of the race.
"I don't know if he is running. I think if he runs, he could hurt himself very badly. I really believe he could hurt himself badly," Mr Trump said. "I don't think it would be good for the party."
Having previously branded him "Ron DeSanctimonious", Trump vowed to reveal "things about him that won't be very flattering - I know more about him than anybody - other than, perhaps, his wife".
Although he later denied a feud, claiming DeSantis is a "fine guy" but adding: "There's not a tiff with me, and I'm way up in the polls."
The midterm results may have serious implications for Trump's potential bid for President in 2024, with more information being set to be revealed next Tuesday.
Speaking at a rally in Ohio on Monday night, the former President said he would make a "very big announcement" next week.
"I'm going to be making a very big announcement on Tuesday, November 15 at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach," he told the crowd.
He added: "We want nothing to detract from the importance of tomorrow."
While he did not directly mention the Presidential elections, many have been predicting that he could announce a run against the Democrats.
In his rambling two-hour speech, heaid that the country has "gone crazy" under President Biden's administration.
He continued: "There's only one choice to end this madness. If you support the decline for all of America, then you must absolutely vote for the radical left crazy people, the radical left Democrats.
"And if you want to stop the destruction of our country and save the American dream, then tomorrow you must vote Republican in a giant red wave that we've all been hearing about.
"We have a man who is the worst president in the history of our country, who is cognitively impaired, in no condition to lead, and is now casually talking about nuclear war with Russia, which would be World War Two."
Mr Trump previously said he would "very, very, very probably" run again and would be formalising his intentions "very, very soon."
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