Analysis: Trump to take oath of office amid deep uncertainty
WASHINGTON — Just before noon, Donald Trump will stand in front of the U.S. Capitol, place his hand on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible and take the oath of office as the next president of the United States.
And the world will hold its breath.
Will Trump move ahead with his original call to temporarily bar Muslims from coming to the U.S., or stick with the revision for “extreme vetting” of potential immigrants? Will he debut a plan to provide health insurance to all Americans, or side with Republicans in Congress who have less lofty ambitions to replace President Barack Obama’s health care law? Will he enter a new arms race with Russia, or will he trade sanctions relief for a deal cutting both nations’ stockpile of nuclear weapons?
Based on all that Trump said during his rule-breaking campaign for president, and the promises he and his team of advisers made during the transition that followed, it’s impossible to say. Trump has cast the opaqueness of his intentions as an asset, and his advisers have chided reporters at times for taking everything their boss says “so literally.”