Nick Adams is a self-proclaimed alpha male influencer whose social media posts have proclaimed his love of big steaks and the Hooters restaurant chain. He is also President Donald Trump’s new special presidential envoy for American tourism, exceptionalism and values, a gig that came Adams’ way only after his nomination to be the U.S. ambassador to Malaysia did not land.
Adams’ appointment is the latest example of Trump’s penchant for out-of-the-box personnel decisions. Critics call him a trolling “dudebro” surviving in the president’s orbit despite an inability to muster support for Senate confirmation.
Provocative, like Trump
Adams surged to MAGA prominence as one of the leading lights of the online “manosphere,” said The New York Times. He posted frequently “about stereotypical symbols of masculinity,” advised men to dominate their relationships with women and lamented Hooters’ 2025 bankruptcy filing by volunteering to lead a “presidential task force” to save the chain. He did not backtrack after Trump nominated him for the Malaysia ambassadorship last year. “I am an alpha male. Yes, I eat rare steaks. Yes, I visit Hooters frequently,” he said in a social media post after the nomination. But Adams said he would “not be apologizing” for his posts.
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Adams began a career in his native Australia as a “staunch nationalist” who regularly gave speeches about the “dangers of multiculturalism,” said The Washington Post. He was controversial even among allies: The country’s right-of-center party once “threatened to suspend him for six months” for swearing at a reporter. He resigned from Australian politics in 2012 and decided it was “time to try somewhere else.” Adams gained American citizenship in 2021 and moved quickly into Trump’s circle. Both men “come up with provocative ways to communicate something or highlight a subject area,” Adams told the Post.
The provocations provoke. Adams’ “shtick” targets insecure young men with the “false promise that embracing aggressive misogyny is the key to achieving your dreams,” Amanda Marcotte said at Salon. Adams and other manosphere denizens play the pose as a joke, but it is “pretty much inarguable that Adams’ followers are sincerely misogynistic.”
Malaysia: Failed nomination
Trump appointed Adams to the tourism position after the ambassadorial nomination “came under fire in Malaysia” because Adams had a history of pro-Israel and anti-Islam posts that did not sit well in the largely Islamic nation, said The Diplomat. Young members of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s party marched to the U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur to protest the appointment. Adams is a “right-wing agitator and partisan provocateur,” said former law minister Zaid Ibrahim to the outlet. Malaysians cheered when he was quietly withdrawn from consideration, said The South China Morning Post.
The newly created tourism position is a “much better fit for Adams” because it does not involve a “grueling Senate confirmation process,” said The Bulwark. The job’s duties include involvement with the forthcoming World Cup and 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Adams plans to “thrust forward in this role,” he said on X, and “never relent in spreading the message of the greatness of America!”
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Joel Mathis is a writer with 30 years of newspaper and online journalism experience. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic and The Kansas City Star. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.
