Trump looks to remake America with a sweeping second act

Every new president begins a new chapter in American history. And when Donald Trump is inaugurated in chilly Washington DC on Monday, he will be hoping to usher in a new era for this country.

The ceremony in the rotunda of the US Capitol, moved indoors for the first time in decades due to the bitter cold, will also mark the moment he began to be judged on the action of not promising.

And he has promised seismic change as well as action on day one. At a packed meeting in the city on Sunday, Trump said he would sign executive orders at his inauguration, covering issues ranging from immigration and deportation to the environment and transgender rights.

“You’re going to have a lot of fun watching television tomorrow,” he told the crowd here.

But even though his presidency started with a serious bang, there are still questions about how Trump’s second act will look like.

Will we feel the tectonic plates of power shifting beneath our feet when he re-enters the White House? Can he deliver the sweeping reforms he promised? Will it be as apocalyptic as its opponents suggest?

Listening to some of his detractors, you would be forgiven for thinking the sky will darken and the birds will flee Washington as soon as he takes the oath of office.

Many worried he would try to rule as an autocrat and undermine American democracy. His predecessor, Joe Biden, pointedly used his last Oval Office address to warn of a dangerous oligarchy of unaccountable billionaires around Trump that threatens basic American rights and liberties.

But no one can deny that Trump, 78, has a clear mandate after his decisive election victory in November. He won the popular vote and the electoral college. He won a clean sweep of the swing state. His agenda got the green light from voters.