The Mirror’s US editor Christopher Bucktin reports on the best of the most bizarre it-could-only-happen-in-the-USA stories in his The Buck Stops Here column. This week, more jaw-dropping, head-scratching appointments from Trump, and a super-sized catch off the coast of Norway
It has to be a dare, surely. In a twist Hollywood could not script, President-elect Donald Trump has tapped sleazy Matt Gaetz for his new attorney general.
The MAGA fanboy, famous for his relentless Trump loyalty – and a history of dodging ethics probes – is thrilled at the appointment. After all, what better way to end an investigation into allegations of underage sex trafficking than to oversee the department that runs them?
Armed with a law degree, a colourful CV, and zero prosecutorial experience, Gaetz is ready to jump into the role. Senate confirmation hearings are bound to be… unforgettable if nothing else.
A group of Norwegian trawlermen hoping to catch halibut got a bit more than they bargained for. Casting their nets off the coast of Tromso, they thought they were landing a bumper haul.
Instead, they netted a 115-metre, nuclear-powered US attack submarine.
The fishing crew had accidentally hooked the USS Virginia, complete with cruise missiles.
But the submariner team – twentysomethings apparently less observant than your average fisherman – had no clue they had been hauling the ship’s net for two nautical miles before someone noticed.
Talk about the one that got away.
The US Department of Defense faced ridicule this week after the F-35 Joint Program Office celebrated Veterans Day with an image of a Chinese aircraft.
Instead of showcasing American firepower, their post “honouring those who served” accidentally featured a plane from their enemy. It has since been deleted, but screenshots live on.
California police chief Michael Dorsey took to social media to defend detectives who pressured a man on medication for stress and high blood pressure to confess to killing his father – a murder that never even happened.
The senior brass – with a brass neck to match – brushed off the controversy by saying: “Nobody’s perfect.”
In his post, Mr Dorsey argued that it was perfectly legal to use “ruses” to obtain information from suspects. Yeah, but it helps if there’s an actual crime first. The missing Mr Dorsey Sr was later found alive and well.
