From winning to inauguration: Trump's top 10 attention grabbers

Donald Trump hasn’t shied away from controversy since winning in November. Ahead of his inauguration as the 45th president of the US we take a look back at his most bizarre moments since being elected.

1) Trump takes on Jill Stein’s recount

The president-elect didn’t say too much when the Green Party’s nominee first raised the possibility of a recount in three states but when it found support and started to become a reality Trump took to his beloved Twitter to vent his opinion.

Trump hit back at criticism that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote saying “If the election were based on total popular vote I would have campaigned in  N.Y. Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily.”

The eventual recount changed nothing as Trump predicted, failing to stop him on his path to becoming the 45th president of the US.

READ MORE: Trump bashes recount efforts, says ‘millions voted illegally’

2) Fancy dress with Farage

UKIP Leader Nigel Farage became the first foreign politician to visit Trump after the election, continuing a relationship between the controversial pair. Farage, who campaigned successfully for Brexit and spoke at a Trump campaign rally, joined him at a ‘heroes and villains’ fancy dress party in New York.

Trump makes no secret of wanting to see more of his British friend, taking to Twitter to suggest Farage would make a great ambassador to the US.

3) Talking to Duterte via telephone

He’s not even living there yet but already Trump is inviting people to the White House, including controversial Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte.

The pair spoke via telephone for seven minutes in what was described as a “very engaging, animated talk.” It represented a significant contrast to Duterte’s attitude towards President Barack Obama, who he described as “a son of a whore” because of his perceived disapproval of the leader’s approach to Manila’s “war on drugs.”

READ MORE: Trump invites Duterte to US during ‘animated’ talk, makes other diplomatic missteps

Duterte told Trump he might visit New York and Washington in the coming year, to which Trump responded to let him know “if i’m around.”

4) Picks fight with MSM – NYT & CNN feel his wrath

Days after securing victory over Clinton, Trump launched a scathing Twitter attack on The New York Times over its “poor and highly inaccurate reporting” of him, alleged biased coverage during the election campaign and readership figures, which he insisted were dropping.

In a pre-recorded interview with CBS’ ‘60 Minutes’ on the same day, Trump promised to tone it down on Twitter once he entered the Oval Office.

“I’m going to be very restrained, if I use it at all, I’m going to be very restrained,” he vowed. Well, we’ll soon see about that.

In his first press conference in five months, Trump was able to bypass social media and hit out at his media opponents in the flesh. He took the opportunity to go head to head with a number of MSM outlets who had reported unverified accusations that the Russian government were blackmailing the president-elect with compromising personal information.

READ MORE: ‘You are fake news’: War breaks out between supporters of Trump & media on Twitter

Trump branded Buzzfeed “a failing pile of garbage” during the press conference and described  CNN as “disgraceful,” while telling the network’s Jim Acosta: “Be quiet. I’m not going to give you a question. You are fake news.”

5) Picks a fight with Broadway

Another day, another Twitter feud for the president-elect. This time he took aim at the cast of ‘Hamilton’. Actor Brandon Victor Dixon had, on behalf on the whole production, delivered a pointed address to Vice-President-elect Mike Pence, who was in attendance, following a performance of the musical.

The speech referenced the “diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us” and called on Pence “to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us.”

‘The Donald’, predictably, was not impressed, branding the cast “rude”, the musical “highly overrated” and demanding an apology for the “terrible behavior.”

6) Meeting with Kanye West

Trump confirmed the pair “had been friends for a long time” and had discussed “life” during the 15-minute meeting at Trump Towers. Say no more.

READ MORE: Yeezus! The Donald met Kanye West & the internet went into meltdown (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

7) No further release from Guantanamo Bay

On January 4 President Barack Obama announced plans to release 19 more prisoners from Guantanamo Bay but Trump was suitably unimpressed, insisting the facility should be “loaded up with some bad dudes.”

The prison, which held 242 detainees when Obama came into power, now has fewer than 50. Amnesty International and a number of other human rights organizations have long called for its closure.

However, Trump has other ideas and took to Twitter to call for no further releases from Guantanamo Bay.

8) Attacks ‘over-rated, Hillary flunky’ Meryl Streep

When the doyen of Hollywood hit out at Trump during her speech at the recent Golden Globes, he couldn’t resist responding in his own signature style.

Streep referenced his alleged “imitation of a disabled reporter” in a scathing broadside but the new leader of the free world wasn’t taking it lying down, letting her have both barrels.

READ MORE: Trump brands Meryl Streep ‘over-rated, Hillary flunky’ after Golden Globes speech

9) Criticizing ‘all talk, no action’ civil rights icon John Lewis

After John Lewis, the 1960s civil rights activist and Georgia congressman, appeared on NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ saying Trump was not a "legitimate president," the president-elect was not happy.

Taking to Twitter, Trump said Lewis should stop "falsely complaining about the election results," before adding that Lewis was "all talk, talk, talk – no action or results."

10) Lays into China & cozies up to Taiwan

Trump has long taken an adversarial approach when it comes to China but his acceptance of a congratulatory call from the president of Taiwan weeks after his election to the White House has truly sullied relations with Beijing.

This apparent departure from the United States’ long-standing ‘One China’ policy earned a swift rebuke but Trump took to Twitter to decry China’s protectionist trade policies and militarism in the South China Sea.

Two weeks later the Chinese Navy stole a US underwater drone in the South China Sea and Trump again took the opportunity to vent his displeasure.

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