Trump’s anger and embarrassment after 2022 midterm failures revealed in new book

While Democrats were celebrating their stop to the so-called "red wave" in 2022, Donald Trump was stewing in anger in a Versailles-inspired ballroom in Florida as a hurricane bore down, a writer revealed in a new book.

Isaac Arnsdorf's "Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy" details the movement's rise to power and its success outside of Donald Trump. After his reign, Trump attempted to recruit candidates he thought could follow his MAGA playbook and win in the 2022 Midterms.

It was an embarrassing failure for the ex-president, Arnsdorf wrote.

That night, as Hurricane Nicole approached the Florida coast, Trump entered the ballroom to a lackluster crowd of loyalists and a smattering of press.

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"Trump, for all his deceits, could be hopelessly transparent about his emotions in person. Though he would later insist he was 'not at all ANGRY,' you could tell he was by his expression," writes Arnsdorf.

"You could tell by the way he thanked the press for being there, calling it a 'great honor' to have them (not his usual posture toward the 'Fake News'). He knew the reporters from the major national outlets had bailed, catching the last planes out of town before the storm."

That night proved he was losing when it came to getting those in his image elected to office. Taking the stage, he spoke for no more than five minutes and never addressed the crowd again, the author wrote.

"Trump recited his record of endorsing winners, in the primaries and now in the general. He mused aloud, 'Wouldn’t that be funny, if we were better on the general election than on the nominations?'" the book recalls.

He wasn't. Everyone from Kari Lake and Mark Finchem to Doug Mastriano and Herschel Walker failed in 2022. While they may have tried Trump's 2020 tactic of questioning the election results and the legitimacy of the vote, they were forced from the pillars of power.

Trump bailed on the faux celebration by midnight, and "only a few stragglers remained to cheer him off. Watching Trump work the room that night, it was possible, if only for a fleeting moment, to see him as just the club owner, the host of a party where no one wanted to be," the book recalls.

The book goes on to recall an interview Steve Bannon did with Oath Keeper Dan Schultz on "War Room," in Feb. 2021, promoting the necessity of taking over a political party to be successful. Bannon understood that third parties don't work, Arnsdorf said.

“Essentially, what we have to do is, we conservatives have to take over one of the two major political parties. Our party is, the one we’ve been using, is the Republican Party. The problem is we’re not in control of it," Schultz told Bannon.

"Finish What We Started" is on sale now.

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