Warning: those not up to date with House of Cards might see spoilers for previous seasons.

In a stroke of viral marketing genius, the disturbing first teaser ad for the fifth season of Netflix political thriller series House of Cards dropped on US president Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day.

It was epic trolling, depicting the American flag flying upside down – an extreme distress signal – as children recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Clearly Netflix knew they had a fight on their hands competing with the real world following Mr Trump’s stunning upset win last November.

Now that The New Daily has seen first two episodes of season five, we can reveal five spine-tingling moments the machinations of the underhanded Underwoods (Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright) predict where we are now.

Viper Veep

The final stretch of season four saw a détente of sorts form between the estranged Underwoods.

Pulling together with weeks left before the election, Claire insisted on running as Frank’s VP as they prepare to secure a second term, facing down Republican challenger Will Conway (Joel Kinnaman).

Back then, it was the biggest stretch since the brutal murder of Kate Mara’s ill-fated journalist Zoe Barnes. Now, with the brazen nepotism of Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner as official White House employees, it’s fair game.

Banging the war drums

As Mr Trump rattles sabres with North Korea while demanding NATO members ramp up their military spending, the season five opener sees President Underwood pushing to declare war at home as a vote-winning tactic, feeding off the fear of Islamic State stand-in ICO.

Frank breaks precedent, bulldozing into Congress, ignoring the speaker and stating his case for martial law on US streets.

This follows the stunning season four finale when, after witnessing an ICO execution from the White House Situation Room, Frank turned to viewers and said, “That’s right, we don’t submit to terror… We make the terror.” Chillingly, Claire joined him in breaking the fourth wall for the first time.

Season five sees Frank and Claire combine forces. Photo: Netflix

Border force

Ramping up his rhetoric over the threat posed by an influx of ICO assailants, President Underwood pushes for a metaphorical ring of steel around the US, demanding that the borders be shut down, preventing mandated undesirables from entering.

It strongly recalls Mr Trump’s currently still court-blocked Muslim travel ban.

Cyber crime

After the real world was rocked by the WannaCry ransomware attack, Frank, always a few steps ahead of his pursuers, once again manipulates corrupt data expert Aidan MacAllan (Damian Young) to aid his nefarious schemes.

That may just involve some convenient digital trace deletion and a similarly frightening viral attack conveniently pinned on ICO.

Fight the truth

Mr Trump isn’t the only politician willing to attack the fourth estate, decrying unfavourable media reports as “fake news”.

Season five returns to the journalistic investigation that led to Zoe’s untimely demise, led by her former boss Tom Hammerschmidt (Boris McGiver) alongside newcomer Korey Jackson as reporter Sean Jeffries.

But the Underwoods fight back. Frank rubbishes Tom’s reporting in Congress and Claire records a campaign message declaring, “There’s a lot of noise out there these days. A noisy press that’s choosing to dwell on the past instead of what’s happening right now. My husband and I want to protect you.”