Standing before Chief Justice John Roberts, he raises his right hand and places his left on the Bible.
“I, Donald Trump, do solemnly swear…”
After he takes the oath of office, he kisses his wife, Melania. His children hug him excitedly. Former President Barack Obama, a bewildered look on his face, shakes his hand. A few rows back Howard Stern gives the new president a thumbs up. Behind him Dennis Rodman mutters something incomprehensible. And then Donald J. Trump, the 45th President of the United States, turns to the lectern to offer an inaugural address that for the first time in history is being delivered without any text or, as much as anyone can tell, without any preparation whatsoever.
This is usually the point when Mitch McConnell wakes up screaming, his face drenched in cold sweat.
It can’t really happen, right? He can’t really win the presidency? Well, if you think that by now, then you’re still dreaming.
For the past eight months, since the pugnacious billionaire first toyed with a run for the White House, Washington has been consistent in their efforts to underestimate him. His level of support. His media savvy. His ability to dominate any conversation. Now, as he’s poised for a substantial win on Super Tuesday, the impossible has become improbable and now all but inevitable. Trump is likely to win the Republican nomination and, as he challenges Hillary Clinton, he may be only an FBI investigation away from winning the White House.
So the question few in Washington ever thought they’d contemplate is suddenly urgent: What would he do then? What would his first 100 days look like?
Here then are some educated guesses to some of the punditry’s most pressing questions:
Q: Will Donald Trump really deliver his inaugural address without notes or teleprompter?
Best-case scenario: No. The new president delivers a professional address that reaches out to those who didn’t vote for him and pledges to be a president for all the (Yes, it could happen and we believe it will.)
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