While, on the one hand, Mr Trump's use of Twitter has provided light relief for millions, it has cost him dearly in terms of credibility and respect.

Whereas previous presidents, aware their blandest statements would be dissected by the media and the public, were cautious and nuanced in what they said, the new commander in chief has been happy to tweet first and fact check later, if ever.

His biggest own-goal to date has been the claim the Obama administration "wire tapped" Trump Tower in 2016.

That tweet, apparently based on an unsubstantiated report from a right wing media website, led Washington insiders to conclude this would have only happened as part of a probe into links between the Trump campaign and Russians trying to finesse the poll result.

On Monday FBI director James Comey told the House Intelligence Committee the bureau was indeed investigating possible links between members of the Trump campaign and the Russian government.

"With respect to the president's tweets about alleged wire tapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets...," he said. "The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the Department of Justice."

Mr Comey's uncompromising rebuttal of what now appears to be the mother of all "alternative facts" exposed the falsehood of the emperor's new clothes at a time when public disenchantment with Mr Trump's performance was already rising fast.

A survey of Americans aged between 18 and 30 this month found 57 per cent of respondents did not accept Mr Trump as the legitimate president of the United States.

This view was held by 74 per cent of African Americans, 71 per cent of Hispanics and 60 per cent of Asian Americans in that age range.

Of those polled, 62 per cent said they disapproved of Mr Trump's performance as president. That figure rose to 72 per cent for Hispanics, 71 per cent for African Americans and 69 per cent for Asian Americans.

With non-Hispanic whites expected to be a minority group in the U.S. by 2044, and half of all American children expected to be from a non white background by 2020, these figures must be ringing deafening alarm bells for any Republicans looking more than four years ahead.

With six in 10 young Americans already holding an unfavourable view of the party, its long term future is bleak unless the checks and balances that have been built into the American political system are able to modify Mr Trump's behaviour.

If this does not occur then the next three-and-a-half years are going to be a very rocky ride for Mr Trump, the United States and the rest of the world.