Musk’s new role in Trump’s government is today’s ‘ugh’ moment in US politics. There will be many more | Emma Brockes

As we enter the era of Trump 2.0, reaction-fatigue to his bizarre decisions is already setting in - and it's only been eight days

So here we are, back to the era of waking up to headlines that trigger audible ughs" and a desire to act out being violently sick. On Wednesday morning, this was the news that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy had been appointed by the president-elect, Donald Trump, to run something called the Department of Government Efficiency, a newly created body tasked with cutting back federal bureaucracy and given the larky acronym Doge. (Musk has been a longtime promoter of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, so there's a great conflict-of-interest gag straight out the gate.)

On X, Musk duly posted an image of himself in gangster pose, with digitally volumised hair alongside the lettering D.O.G.E, the message of which was clear: cutting $2tn from the federal budget, a figure touted by Musk before the election, was going to be not only satisfying, but fun!

Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist