In the Obama era, his bristling walrus moustache was a near constant presence on television, almost always Fox News, from where he would vent scorn and spleen on the Democratic administration.

Conan Doyle, a Victorian dynamo with a walrus moustache and a passion for cricket and fair play, felt duty-bound to investigate.

The trademark walrus moustache was still there, and the penetrating gaze was just the same, but in almost every other way the new John Bolton and the old John Bolton seemed very different.

The decision comes as a surprise, not least because Mr Trumpov was reported to have decided against naming Mr Bolton secretary of state last year as he disliked his walrus moustache.

Nor did he expect a pastor like Mr Martinez, a burly 54-year-old with a walrus moustache, who as a young man was—by his own account—an exceptionally brutal gang member in Los Angeles.