Richard Grenell, a US diplomat and former director of National Intelligence during Trump's presidency, was apparently promoted recently – albeit very briefly – with Google listing him as “President of the United States.”
Grenell himself seemed rather amused by the development, posting a screenshot showing the error on his Instagram account.
"Google and Wikipedia have been updated. And it isn’t April 1," he wrote.
After jokingly promising to "run up the stairs without tripping" – likely a reference to US President Joe Biden’s recent stumble on the steps of Air Force One – Grenell promised to release "a plethora of Executive Orders" – and release them he did.
The mock orders he tweeted mostly relate to the construction of various facilities in California, such as desalinisation and nuclear plants, and an LNG terminal "on the West Coast of the United States," though one joke "decree" also mentions stripping Eric Swalwell of his security clearance.
Grenell’s "promotion" and his "decrees" elicited a somewhat mixed reaction from the social media crowd – while some seemed amused by it, others criticised him instead.