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| US President Donald Trump |
By Andrew BEATTY
Donald Trump hurtled through his first week in power, punching out at critics, dishing up "alternative facts," polarizing public opinion and making good on an electoral promise to shake up Washington.
One week into the Trump era and there is a serious case of political whiplash in America's capital.
Just a week ago, an outsider who never before held elected office rode into town. Seven days later, norms and doctrine that have guided the United States for decades are being re-examined.
Trump's down-to-the-studs gut job began with a feisty inaugural address: a call to arms that tested old distinctions between left and right.
"Today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another," he said.
"We are transferring power from Washington, DC, and giving it back to you, the people."
The establishment "elites" in big cities, in politics and the media were no longer the technocrats in charge of the world's only superpower, they were the enemy.
The new president also put the rest of the world on notice.
For the last 75 years, America had been what Barack Obama described as the "indispensable nation" -- the glue that bound the global order.
The era of Trump would be the era of "America first," he said, of naked self-interest and zero-sum diplomacy. Old alliances would be reassessed, new alliances would be explored.
Before his inauguration, many asked if the presidency would change Donald Trump, or whether Donald Trump would change the presidency.
Barely 20 minutes into his four-year term, anyone who was listening had their answer.
