You could call it a backlash, but perhaps the better term is cultural revenge. Following his resounding election victory, US President-elect Donald Trump wasted no time in showing Americans, and the world, that he was deadly serious about his plans.

Given Trump’s volatility, and his tendency towards hyperbole, post-election political commentary had immediately focused on whether he would really do the things he promised during the campaign.

Trump’s picks: Bobby Kennedy Jr for health and Elon Musk for government efficiency.Credit: Michael Howard

Is Trump serious about military-assisted mass deportations of undocumented immigrants? About the imposition of trade tariffs and deep cuts to government budgets? Will he really “drain the swamp” and end “wokeness”?

His highly publicised cabinet appointments – which have been rolling out over recent weeks like a series of jokes leading to a killer punchline – tell us that, yep, he’s for real. The United States – under the MAGAdministration – will do exactly what it promises on the tin.

A brief tour through the collection of hacks, maddies, phoneys and sex pests Trump has picked to implement his agenda must begin with his nominee for attorney-general, Matt Gaetz, who late this week withdrew his bid for the job, following a torrid week of publicity over sexual misconduct allegations.

Gaetz was the subject of a Justice Department investigation into his alleged relationship with a 17-year-old girl that might have violated federal sex-trafficking laws. The investigation was closed without charges, but meanwhile the US House of Representatives ethics committee conducted its........

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