Donald Trump planned on taking lots of credit for GOP midterm election wins as he barnstormed the country, teasing the big presidential announcement he was dying to make real soon.

"I think if they win, I should get all the credit," Trump told NewsNation Tuesday of congressional Republicans. "If they lose, I should not be blamed at all," he added, with a straight face.

But when things didn't go so hot for the Donald Tuesday night, he immediately scoured his contacts, looking for scapegoats. Bingo! Melania really jammed him when she pushed her hubby to endorse TV huckster Mehmet Oz for the open Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

As Trump seethed over Melania's poor judgment, talk among his advisers quickly turned to whether it was smart to go forward with the already-public date for his big 2024 announcement: Nov. 15. Trump cost the party several gubernatorial races (again), maybe the Senate (again), and maybe even the House (again), and perhaps laying low and letting the storm blow over would be a good idea.

Nah! That would be like accepting responsibility for the historic blow Republicans suffered at the ballot box, and Trump already skirted around accepting blame by telling a reporter he shouldn't get any blame.

As Trump was shadow-boxing with himself, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was drinking in the glory of his 20-point reelection win.

As DeSantis addressed his supporters, chants of "Two more years!" broke out, a nod to the truncated governors' term he would serve if he won a 2024 presidential bid.

DeSantis could also claim credit for the redistricting map that clinched at least four GOP congressional pickups for the party.

Trump, meanwhile, was left threatening to reveal DeSantis' deepest, darkest secrets to reporters should he decide to run.

By Wednesday, Trump was fixated once again on the size of his crowd.

"Now that the Election in Florida is over," Trump truthed on his own platform, "shouldn't it be said that in 2020, I got 1.1 Million more votes in Florida than Ron D got this year, 5.7 million to 4.6 million? Just asking."

Trump came out of Tuesday weaker than he went in, while DeSantis gave his resume a serious boost. It's the perfect setup for a knock-down, drag-out competition in a world where Trump's star is falling while DeSantis looks like a nimble rising star.

Republished with permission from Daily Kos.