President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address as the 45th...

President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address as the 45th president on Jan. 20, 2017, in Washington.  Credit: Getty Images/Alex Wong

So here we are, eight years later. Donald Trump again is about to take the oath of office as president of the United States.

The tableau is familiar. As we wrote on the eve of his first inauguration in 2017: "The nation is emotionally exhausted, wounded, and still terribly divided. Our government has been gridlocked, our political parties upended. Fears of globalization have people worried about newcomers, disappearing jobs, a loss of American exceptionalism, international power shifts and terrorism. As we seek solutions, we often can’t agree on basic sets of facts."

In the intervening years, new challenges also have arisen. Now we have war in Ukraine and bitter conflict in the Middle East, the scary yet thrilling rise of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency seeking to rewire global finance, indisputable evidence that social media is harming our children, a powerful and growing threat from China, and increasing impacts of a warming climate in the form of intensifying hurricanes battering the Gulf Coast and Southeastern United States and ever-more-ferocious fires devouring states out West.

How and whether Trump responds to these challenges old and new will determine the strength of his presidency and the health of our country. We will judge Trump on his merits, not his bluster. On what he does, in other words. We will make those judgments based on real information, not innuendo and falsehood. This is something all of us need to do, whether you voted for Trump or not.

We will begin that endeavor in accountability with his first 100 days. That's not enough time to achieve lasting results, of course, but he and his team have promised so much in that opening chapter that we will be watching closely for some indication that he is working to deliver positive change for all Americans. Let's hope it's not a grievance tour or rounds of retribution; that won't serve the country. We need a president and an administration that are working toward accomplishing worthwhile goals he promised to address, like fixing our immigration mess and reducing the cost of living.

Trump is in better position to get things done this time around. After four years on the job, he has a clearer idea of how to make the levers of government work — experience we hope he uses to better serve the people he represents, not himself. That points to another difference from 2017: With his second victory and unquestioned domination of the Republican Party, Trump is no longer an outsider. He and his allies are now "the establishment."

But he did win for the second time on a promise of change, a prospect many Americans welcomed. And change is needed. Solving our immigration problem means more than the deportation of criminals; our system needs a complete overhaul. Trump is in position to deliver that, and we hope he does. As he takes action, he should remember that as harmful as unfettered immigration is to our country, our economy desperately needs the skills, vitality, ingenuity, and commitment to hard work that immigrants have always brought to America.

Other challenges will involve reducing the federal budget and its deficit, further taming inflation, ending the war in Ukraine, keeping intact the safety net for older Americans, and preparing for the next pandemic.

As Trump beholds these problems, he should understand that the nervousness and uncertainty that greeted his ascension in 2017, domestically and globally, are simmering again. Eight years ago, we implored him to seek unity over division and to exercise discretion in responding to slights both real and imagined. Those calls largely went unheeded, yet we make them again; there simply is too much important work to do to waste time on insult wars. That goes for both sides of our political gulf. It's long past time to work with each other on issues where common ground can be found, for the good of the nation. But the initiative to make that happen must come from the president.

We also hope Trump joins all Americans in accepting the charge laid out by President Joe Biden in his farewell address. Biden observed that the resilience of our nation lies in the strength of its institutions and the character of its people, and said it is up to all of us to stand guard and be keepers of that flame. We must be vigilant.

When Trump takes the oath this second time, his right hand on a Bible and his left raised with his palm extended to the people, it will conclude our nation's traditional peaceful transfer of power. Four years ago, Biden took the oath outside a Capitol that had been savaged and ransacked two weeks earlier by a Trump-inspired mob protesting his election loss. Those tensions linger, the struggle between truth and falsehood still rages, and the American people Trump leads are still divided. That will only make it harder to accomplish anything positive, but it makes it all the more imperative to try.

Eight years ago, we wrote that we hoped Trump would rise to the challenges he was facing. Seize the moment, we implored. We make the same plea now.

It all starts again with his inaugural address on Monday. Will it be the dark "American carnage" mirage he evoked in 2017, or a promise to get to work on behalf of all Americans? We're hoping for the latter.

MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.

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