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“Everybody who’s not a Trumpist in this society has been taken by surprise, and is still groggy from the authoritarian offensive of the last five months,” said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at the embattled Harvard University, and author of “How Democracies Die.”

Despite anticipation that the tiara would surpass its pre-sale estimate, the final result took experts by surprise.

Welch was due to present the award for best newcomer at the ceremony, but was taken by surprise when it was revealed she was in fact about to receive a special award herself.

Trump and his administration have been uncharacteristically quiet on the subject, but on Wednesday morning’s edition of "Fox & Friends," co-host Brian Kilmeade said there was anger behind the scenes: “I think the Elon Musk thing really caught the president by surprise and I hear he is furious.”

Last week, President Donald Trump took many in the legal world by surprise when he attacked the chief architect of his first-term judicial nomination agenda, Leonard Leo, as a “sleazebag” who “probably hates America.”