Trump's flurry of extremist staff picks spark fears

'Welcome back," Joe Biden told Donald Trump, his predecessor and successor, as the pair shook hands in the Oval Office.

- David Smith

For Biden, it was important to show the world that America can still conduct a peaceful transfer of power.

It was an outward show of permanence and stability. But behind the two men a fire was burning fiercely in the grate. TV comedian Stephen Colbert observed: "I do think it was fitting that they held the meeting in front of a roaring metaphor for the future." Trump will not be president for another two months but he is already dominating the Washington agenda again. Last week a flurry of controversial and extremist picks for his cabinet and other high-ranking positions came at a hectic pace and with a level of provocation that made heads spin.

The choices included a Fox News host, an anti-vaccine activist, an alleged apologist for Vladimir Putin and a congressman once embroiled in a sex-trafficking investigation. The lineup raised fears of authoritarianism or chaos or both-once Trump and his allies are back in the Oval Office.

Tara Setmayer, a former Republican communications director on Capitol Hill, said: "Their entire political brand is shock and awe. Prior to Trump's re-election it was notional. Now they have the power to execute all of their depravity with the full backing of American government power virtually unchecked. I don't think the people who voted for Donald Trump, allegedly because of economic angst, have a full appreciation for what that means."

Trump, who has promised not to be a "dictator" except on "day one", will enter office with fewer checks on his power than last time. He will return to Washington with a Republicancontrolled Congress and a conservative supreme court that ruled he is largely immune from prosecution.