Donald Trump’s appointment of Nick Adams, the “alpha male” Australian turned American internet provocateur as a new special presidential envoy on Tuesday, could give fuel to theories that the White House is deliberately trolling the world.

The president nominated the Sydney-born Maga influencer, who has a history of theatrically inflammatory and Islamophobic comments, as ambassador to Malaysia in July, but the Senate returned the appointment without a confirmation vote in January and Trump did not re-submit him.

The White House said Tuesday that Adams has now been appointed special presidential envoy for tourism, exceptionalism and American values.

“Nick Adams is an America First patriot who will represent our country well as we celebrate our Nation’s 250th anniversary of independence, and we look forward to working with him to further showcase and advance America’s excellence across the world stage,” said White House spokesperson Davis Ingle.

Adams was once Australia’s youngest deputy mayor. He then began posting on X as an “alpha male” influencer, with over the top comments featuring fabricated overheard conversations and fanciful vignettes that were first taken as a parody of rightwing manosphere commentary. His most quoted post read: “I go to Hooters. I eat rare steaks. I lift extremely heavy weights. I read the Bible every night. I am pursued by copious amounts of women.”

Adams’ internet commentary regularly features vignettes of dubious veracity which read more like rightwing fantasizing than verifiable events. In one such comment, Adams claimed to have ensured a waitress was fired for wearing a “Free Palestine” pin. The post has since been deleted.

His posts drew attention, which led to a series of books, the first of which – “Alpha Kings” – has a foreword from Trump and “makes the case for traditional masculinity” and promises to “show the young men of America what it means to be a true alpha male in today’s hyper-feminized world”.

In a post shared on X in 2024, Adams stated: “If you don’t stand with Israel, you stand with terrorists!” The post drew condemnation in Malaysia and triggered protests in Kuala Lumpur after his nomination as ambassador was announced.

“The United States is a nation that, since its inception, was destined for greatness,” Adams said in a video announcing his appointment. “As the special presidential envoy for tourism, exceptionalism and American values, it is my job to never let a day go by without reminding the world that the United States is worth more than even the sum of our achievements.”