Why do so many cryptic crossword clues mention Donald Trump?

We must now brace ourselves for at least four more years of Trump clues. That surname has so many meanings – as well as flatulent, we have the card-game references and Chambers Dictionary’s “showy but worthless” for TRUMPERY – but it’s not just that.

It is also that the letters in that surname lend themselves to adaptation; we recently had, from Picaroon in quiptics alone …

19d Widely proclaim president heartless egoist (7)
[ wordplay: name of president + EGOIST without middle letter (‘heartless’) ]
[ TRUMP + ET ]
[ definition: widely proclaim ]

6a President claiming one has hollow victories (8)
[ wordplay: name of president containing I (‘one’) + HAS without middle letter (‘hollow’) ]
[ TRUMP around I + HS ]
[ definition: victories ]

… and while #45 is not present in name in Brummie’s clue …

6d Ex-president one almost wishes would get thrashed in early Republican primaries (10)
[ wordplay: anagram (‘would get thrashed’) of ON (‘one almost’) & WISHE [think this should be of ONE & WISHE (almost ‘wishes’)]; checked with AC and corrrected in first letters (‘primaries’) of EARLY REPUBLICAN ]
[ anagram of ONWISHES in ER ]
[ definition: ex-president ]

… you can’t help thinking about him. Remember those days?

Meet the puzzle creators: Victoria Godfrey AKA Carpathian Photograph: David Yeo; set styling by Claudio Mistre/The Guardian

If in all the festive bustle, you missed our Puzzles Special, you can still read our profiles of setters of puzzles of all stripes, including crosswords’ Carpathian. And if you especially enjoyed any jumbos, themed puzzles or specials, please share them below as none of us will have been able to keep up with all of them.

I’d like to start the new year on perhaps an uncheery note by reiterating the words of my predecessor as crossword editor, Hugh Stephenson, who explained here in 2017 how “the chances of becoming one of the setting team are discouragingly low”:

Over time setters come and go, but you can see how the odds are stacked against any particular person becoming one of our regulars.

While it’s never wise to quote Theresa May, nothing has changed!

PS in our cluing conference for SWIFT, the runners-up are 10FootClaudicant’s evocative “Fleeting as a whim, fate regularly reveals” and AlonzoSWhitebeard’s since-tweaked “Whitehall paper, one that argued against abolishing Christianity”; the winner, at least to my non-ornithological eyes, is “Dean Martin lookalike?”. Kludos to Playitagainst; please leave entries below not for TRUMP but for the emerging VANCE along with any favourite clues or puzzles you’ve spotted.