:00:00. > :00:12.You are watching BBC News. Let's take you straight to Washington,
:00:13. > :00:18.where they are close to the Lincoln Memorial, and that is the Piano
:00:19. > :00:23.Guys, and you'd be forgiven for not having heard of them, but they are
:00:24. > :00:31.taking part in a celebration for the impending inauguration of Donald
:00:32. > :00:45.Craig Trump. This is -- Donald Jay Trump. These guys are among the
:00:46. > :00:49.headline acts, as well as Green Day. Part of the reason they are having
:00:50. > :00:56.this at the moment is all Trump and his inauguration team are attracting
:00:57. > :01:03.some A-list celebrities to take part in celebrations tomorrow. In fact,
:01:04. > :01:09.one Hollywood Broadway star, Jennifer Holliday, she's had to pull
:01:10. > :01:14.out after criticism from the LGB TE community. We are possibly going to
:01:15. > :01:16.get some words from the man himself, Donald Trump, in the next few
:01:17. > :01:25.minutes. We will try to bring you that. But in the meantime, as I say,
:01:26. > :01:30.you are watching the Piano Guys. Serenading a few thousand people
:01:31. > :01:31.there, I suppose! With me in the studio are our guests for The
:01:32. > :01:35.Papers. With me are Guardian
:01:36. > :01:37.columnist Hugh Muir, and Dan Bilefsky from the New York
:01:38. > :01:48.Times. All the papers are dominated by the
:01:49. > :01:51.inauguration tomorrow, and as I try to explain, it's been a bit tricky
:01:52. > :01:58.for the President-elect to get some headline acts. Hugh, his problem,
:01:59. > :02:03.certainly as far as the inauguration is concerned, is that he's not seen
:02:04. > :02:11.by some as the of person who should be head of state. But a lot of
:02:12. > :02:17.people do believe that his presidency, when it begins, is not
:02:18. > :02:21.getting off on the right foot. Well, who knows what we're going to get?
:02:22. > :02:30.And one can understand all of these stars who might have normally
:02:31. > :02:35.expected to be at and inauguration but have decided not to be there. It
:02:36. > :02:47.doesn't look great on your resume, does it? Serenading President Trump.
:02:48. > :02:57.On your CV! And canny a West was asked to be there but they said, no,
:02:58. > :03:02.they will have a traditional American event. Just the tone of the
:03:03. > :03:07.this presidency. They've been saying this presidency. They've been saying
:03:08. > :03:11.in a speech tomorrow he will talk about being a president for a united
:03:12. > :03:18.America, but what we are seeing doesn't really seem to have got off
:03:19. > :03:23.on a good fit. If those boys are the best he can do, he's not going to be
:03:24. > :03:33.a star-spangled president, I don't think. That's one way of putting it!
:03:34. > :03:37.But if this is his first inaugural, it will go down in the history books
:03:38. > :03:43.and kids will be poring over it in their history books over the next
:03:44. > :03:47.40, 50, 60 years, and if it is an inaugural that attempts to bring
:03:48. > :03:51.together those divides, then he will be seen as someone who is trying to
:03:52. > :03:55.change the dynamic of what his campaign and so far his transition
:03:56. > :04:01.has been about, which is that it still has been divisive. After he
:04:02. > :04:07.won the presidency he gave some conciliatory remarks. He tried to
:04:08. > :04:12.make peace with Hillary. And then in the matter of a few days he was back
:04:13. > :04:17.on Twitter sending incendiary tweets, attacking his opponents,
:04:18. > :04:23.attacking Hollywood and Meryl Streep, and on and on. So although
:04:24. > :04:29.he was able to behave and he'll and be presidential, it didn't take long
:04:30. > :04:30.for the old Donald Trump, the performer, the adversarial
:04:31. > :04:36.politician, to come to the forefront. People who know him say
:04:37. > :04:43.they would be very surprised if the office of the presidency taints him
:04:44. > :04:47.now. If we go to the first paper this evening, the daily Mirror, the
:04:48. > :04:53.41st president of the United States, and a profile shot of Donald Trump.
:04:54. > :04:58."Now The world holds its breath". And there are pictures of the
:04:59. > :05:04.previous 44 presidents of the United States around it. I suppose, Hugh,
:05:05. > :05:11.the point Danny is making is that everyone expected Donald Trump as a
:05:12. > :05:17.former Governor of New York once said, to campaign in poetry and
:05:18. > :05:26.Govan in prose. He hasn't shifted at all. -- govern. No, and you would
:05:27. > :05:31.expect it to grow into the office he was about to occupy but there's been
:05:32. > :05:34.no sign of that at all. There are two possibilities. One is that he
:05:35. > :05:39.felt he needed to retain that character, he needed to retain the
:05:40. > :05:42.persona that got him this far, particularly at the inauguration,
:05:43. > :05:46.because I could see it would be pretty depressing for some of his
:05:47. > :05:50.supporters if up until the point that he won, he was one person, and
:05:51. > :05:55.then suddenly he became a completely different person! He spent the whole
:05:56. > :05:58.campaign railing against the elite, the politics as usual, so if you
:05:59. > :06:02.then sounded like a normal politician suddenly having won, I
:06:03. > :06:06.can see a lot of people who support it would start to lose faith, so
:06:07. > :06:10.that's one theory, that this is deliberate and that he deliberately
:06:11. > :06:14.has kept in character, if you like. The other is that he just can't help
:06:15. > :06:19.himself, you can't do it. He's completely incapable. And in that
:06:20. > :06:23.case, wow, what an inauguration speech were going to have tomorrow!
:06:24. > :06:27.Though supposedly be people writing it down but he might talk about his
:06:28. > :06:30.hotels, you might make it up, he might pick a fight with someone in
:06:31. > :06:37.the audience! Who knows what's going to happen? But Barack Obama has
:06:38. > :06:43.said, and he said this in his press conference yesterday, the weight of
:06:44. > :06:46.the presidency, the enormity of the job sobers you up. He seemed to give
:06:47. > :06:51.the impression that once that mantle has been placed on Donald Trump's
:06:52. > :06:58.shoulders, that he will somehow shift. When we saw Donald Trump
:06:59. > :07:02.first next President Obama in the Oval Office, he seemed petrified and
:07:03. > :07:07.small and freaked out at the reality. I think in many ways, he's
:07:08. > :07:11.this consummate salesman, he was selling this narrative of himself
:07:12. > :07:15.throughout the campaign, and when he finally obtained the presidency, he
:07:16. > :07:20.could barely believe it. But I also think, like you said, this is a man
:07:21. > :07:22.who ran with throwing a bomb at the political establishment and he's
:07:23. > :07:28.going to continue along those lines, and so the presidency might tame him
:07:29. > :07:33.to some extent but he's Donald Trump. He's not someone who changes
:07:34. > :07:40.to go like the wind. He follows his own script and he wants to raise a
:07:41. > :07:43.middle finger at the establishment, and I don't think that's going to
:07:44. > :07:56.stop just because he becomes president. Well, you work for fake
:07:57. > :07:59.news! The New York Times! Be interesting -- the interesting thing
:08:00. > :08:07.is that they said they will board with the pictures of Presidents.
:08:08. > :08:12.Don't ask me to pick out the one they were talking about, Andrew
:08:13. > :08:21.Jackson... Or historical knowledge is better than mine! Andrew Jackson
:08:22. > :08:24.was the Donald Trump of his day. He was the plain speaking president for
:08:25. > :08:32.the ordinary guy, he was running against the elites and his
:08:33. > :08:36.inauguration day was pretty wild. People brought their horses and
:08:37. > :08:41.cattle into the White House pretty much! A day that Washington had
:08:42. > :08:45.never seen! So there has been a time in the past where they just got fed
:08:46. > :08:51.up with what is seen as routine politics and then brought someone in
:08:52. > :08:55.to disrupt it all. And then it's gone back to being what we would see
:08:56. > :08:59.as being a sane country again. I'm clutching at straws here! But this
:09:00. > :09:04.has happened before! Maybe the equilibria will come back after four
:09:05. > :09:09.years, maybe not! We might not have to wait! But isn't that what has
:09:10. > :09:14.made America great? The fact that it has been willing to throw everything
:09:15. > :09:22.up. A sense of innovation, moving forward constantly like a shark,
:09:23. > :09:27.like a laser beam. And not becoming what Donald Rumsfeld famously
:09:28. > :09:34.described Europe as - old Europe, stained, frosty, no sense of
:09:35. > :09:40.innovation. Isn't that what has made America what it is? The fact that it
:09:41. > :09:49.can throw up something like Trump? Well, indeed... That is a no! The
:09:50. > :09:52.fact that he is in the tradition of the great salesman and a reality TV
:09:53. > :09:57.star and he was able to come -- become the president of the United
:09:58. > :10:00.States, in some ways it's a decidedly American morality tale,
:10:01. > :10:04.but it's not exactly an American dream story. Obama had an American
:10:05. > :10:12.dream narrative. He didn't know his father till he was older, he was
:10:13. > :10:17.raised by his mother, the first African-American president. I'm not
:10:18. > :10:20.sure Donald Trump encompasses that same narrative. He was born with a
:10:21. > :10:25.silver spoon in his mouth, he had investments from his father, his own
:10:26. > :10:30.company. Paradoxically, he's managed to refashion himself as an everyman,
:10:31. > :10:36.as a working-class hero, and that's the great irony of this, but it
:10:37. > :10:40.doesn't have the same mood music as the entrance of Obama on the
:10:41. > :10:51.political stage. Yes. Let's go back to the Make America Great Again, and
:10:52. > :10:58.I think onstage that is the US Army band, the pipers, and they are doing
:10:59. > :11:05.Stars And Stripes Forever. After them, it is a guy called Harvey
:11:06. > :11:14.Keith. I've heard of him! A country guy, I think! Let's go back to the
:11:15. > :11:22.papers. The Times. This is basically Donald's Got Talent, isn't it? Do
:11:23. > :11:34.you think you collected these people on the road to Washington? The
:11:35. > :11:37.Times, he is the legitimate president of the United States, and
:11:38. > :11:42.whatever you think about him, given what we see over the last few days
:11:43. > :11:46.in a place like Gambia, is that America can pass the torch in a
:11:47. > :11:49.peaceful way to a new administration. And that is
:11:50. > :11:56.something to be applauded. Indeed. Past presidents will be there, even
:11:57. > :12:02.those who have been sharply critical of him. The only one who won't be is
:12:03. > :12:08.George Bush senior, who is unwell. But there will be Bill Clinton, etc,
:12:09. > :12:14.and it does speak to the kind of democracy that America is. But, you
:12:15. > :12:20.know, I think this will be an important moment for the rest of
:12:21. > :12:22.America, for liberal America, because they're really going to have
:12:23. > :12:28.to work out what they are for, what they believe. In a way, Trump will
:12:29. > :12:32.give them the sharpest definition they can possibly have this is what
:12:33. > :12:39.The Times is focusing on. Both in the States here. There are what they
:12:40. > :12:44.would see as liberal activists who are already trying to mobilise and
:12:45. > :12:52.say it might be four long years but we've got to start now and show that
:12:53. > :12:56.we don't think the way Trump does things is the way and we don't want
:12:57. > :13:01.this to be the dominant view. The number of times he talks about the
:13:02. > :13:05.events taking place in Washington at the same time as the inauguration,
:13:06. > :13:14.people who are going to speak at them, including our own columnist,
:13:15. > :13:17.just give him a shout out! For which we are grateful. But I think both
:13:18. > :13:22.here and in America, we're really going to have to work out what we
:13:23. > :13:28.are for and if this is the prevailing wind, what the attack is.
:13:29. > :13:33.What is your view on how Democrats will handle Mr Trump? We know what
:13:34. > :13:37.Republicans did with Barack Obama - they Froch every turn. Is that what
:13:38. > :13:44.the Democrats will do? -- they blocked him. Initially I think they
:13:45. > :13:49.will give him the benefit of the doubt. The electoral politics are
:13:50. > :13:53.such that the Republicans have both houses and as such they can put
:13:54. > :13:57.through their own policies. They will try to conserve Obama's legacy
:13:58. > :14:01.as much as possible. But what we're hearing is that they will try, to
:14:02. > :14:07.give him the benefit of the doubt, then see what happens, but it's up
:14:08. > :14:12.in the air at the moment. Let's go back to Washington. The Make America
:14:13. > :14:23.Great Again celebration. And this is Toby Keith, and, as I say, I've
:14:24. > :14:27.heard of him. Let's listen in. # I'm an American soldier
:14:28. > :14:29.# I'm an American # I've got my brothers and my
:14:30. > :14:47.sisters # I stand proud...
:14:48. > :14:52.Plenty of that! The Telegraph. Dan, how does this square with him
:14:53. > :14:59.wanting to spend 1 trillion on investment projects? Is very
:15:00. > :15:03.bizarre, frankly, because he want to spend -- he wanted to spend 1
:15:04. > :15:08.billion on infrastructure projects to help everyman, but he's also
:15:09. > :15:13.trying to preach smaller government, and if you have a smaller
:15:14. > :15:17.government, who is going to deliver these infrastructure projects? So
:15:18. > :15:23.it's a typical Trump comment to say one thing and then the opposite. Is
:15:24. > :15:27.part of his problem, Hugh, that he's been so specific in what he's going
:15:28. > :15:35.to do? I'm going to bring back jobs, I'm going to bring back coal mining,
:15:36. > :15:37.I'm going to bring back factories? Whereas past presidents, yes, of
:15:38. > :15:48.course on the campaign trail they talk specifics a bit but they don't
:15:49. > :15:52.zero in on the gripes, but he has zeroed in on gripes people have and
:15:53. > :15:58.he's got to live with that. That will be his problem come Saturday
:15:59. > :16:01.morning. It's all very well to have a reality show president who
:16:02. > :16:08.promises things... Stop belittling the man! I'm not American, I don't
:16:09. > :16:15.have to respect the office! But his promise, as you say, of specific
:16:16. > :16:20.things, it's interesting. As fervent as people are now in their support
:16:21. > :16:24.of him, that can flip. And one of the ways it can do that is the
:16:25. > :16:29.people he has promised things too, when they say, well, we not getting
:16:30. > :16:34.those things. The presidency had is a bit of a bully pulpit. It has some
:16:35. > :16:43.powers but in many ways the office of Prime Minister here is a more
:16:44. > :16:46.powerful job. I'll interject. I think those of us in the liberal
:16:47. > :16:50.chamber have been taking him to lightly and when he says he will
:16:51. > :16:56.build a wall, maybe you will, but most of the electorate... It
:16:57. > :17:00.incorporates that as saying... If you set about coal miner, I'm going
:17:01. > :17:04.to give you your job back, you've got to do it, and yet half those
:17:05. > :17:07.jobs have gone because of automation, because the Chinese are
:17:08. > :17:14.dumping steel, and because it's done cheaper around the rest of the
:17:15. > :17:20.world. How do you do that? The angry white man will pay dividends to that
:17:21. > :17:24.to some extent and buy him some time, and it doesn't mean he won't
:17:25. > :17:27.have to find them jobs, you will. But the fact that the person who
:17:28. > :17:31.spoke that language is now in the White House and the music has
:17:32. > :17:40.changed... That's really interesting. We have here, we've no
:17:41. > :17:47.idea what this guy is going to do. The fact he says one thing, does
:17:48. > :17:52.another, he flips, he flops. He's such a loose cannon. Dan, how much
:17:53. > :17:58.time has he got? Is it essentially two years before the midterms? I
:17:59. > :18:05.think it's going to have to be before two years he's going to have
:18:06. > :18:09.to produce some results. They are going to want to see jobs and
:18:10. > :18:13.benefits. At the same time, the fact he can channel the anger and be this
:18:14. > :18:17.everyman, that will ingratiate him to his base. But he's going to have
:18:18. > :18:24.to produce some results very quickly, I would say. The really
:18:25. > :18:30.distressing thing about that quote, we've no idea what this man is going
:18:31. > :18:34.to do, it came from Joe bidden, in an interview with the New York
:18:35. > :18:38.Times. -- Joe Biden. You can't help wondering what might have happened
:18:39. > :18:43.if Joe Biden had been the candidate and not Hillary Clinton. Yes, much
:18:44. > :18:52.closer to the working class. Finally, farewell, Mr President. The
:18:53. > :18:57.only paper not to have Trump on the front. And I suppose the Metro is
:18:58. > :19:02.reflecting on what has gone to put into context what's to come. And
:19:03. > :19:06.it's also the fact that for many people, President Obama was one of
:19:07. > :19:11.the most transformational president since Lincoln, arguably, when you
:19:12. > :19:20.think of what you don't -- what he did on Iran, human rights, lesbian
:19:21. > :19:24.and gay rights, mobilising the economy after 2008, and what a
:19:25. > :19:29.transformational figure he was. I think the Metro is giving some
:19:30. > :19:35.credence to his historical legacy. Some argue he didn't do enough with
:19:36. > :19:41.the economy that allowed Trump to get in. He had his own personal
:19:42. > :19:45.flaws that maybe didn't lend him to the American system. If you think of
:19:46. > :19:50.someone like Bill Clinton, who was able to deal with, haggle with,
:19:51. > :19:54.negotiate with people who were his political opponents, I never got the
:19:55. > :19:58.impression Obama could do that. But if you think about the opposition
:19:59. > :20:01.there was to him throughout, and you think of the challenges and the
:20:02. > :20:05.state of the economy when he took over, I think he's been an
:20:06. > :20:10.exceptional president. I'm not even American and I'm proud of him! But I
:20:11. > :20:15.don't think we will see his like again in our lifetime. Thank you to
:20:16. > :20:20.both of you. This particular story in front of the papers. And if Mr
:20:21. > :20:24.Trump does speak at that Make America Great Again celebration in
:20:25. > :20:25.Washington, we will bring it to here on BBC News. But now it's time for
:20:26. > :20:27.the