Ultra-rich individuals are associating with Donald Trump as he ascends to the presidency for his second time

• ‘Government by the worst’: why people are calling Trump’s new sidekicks a ‘kakistocracy’

Joe Biden delivered an ominous message to Americans in his 15 January farewell address, warning that a privileged few could soon be poised to wield enormous power in the US.

Biden described a “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked”.