off the pictures as he got off the plane at andrews air base, he has met senior lawmakers as he continues to put his new administration together. he has just left that hotel in central washington and is en route to the white house. we had so many cameras pointed at different entrances to the white house. let's go back to our senior north american correspondence gary o'donoghue. in the last while when he was talking to lawmakers he said something instantly reported by the various news agencies, he raised the possibility of a third term in the white house. i was talking to one of his former eu ambassadors in his last administration who was dismissive of that, just saying donald trump cannot resist saying things that make people's brains boyle. yeah, i think that _ people's brains boyle. yeah, i think that might _ people's brains boyle. yeah, i think that might be _ people's brains boyle. yeah, i think that might be in - people's brains boyle. yeah, i think that might be in that - think that might be in that category of statement. you remember during the campaign he said things like you won't have

to vote ever again and people got very upset and worried about what that could mean, it might mean nothing, just like this comment about a third term. this would require a constitutional amendment and that it's pretty hard to get donein that it's pretty hard to get done in this country as things stand with the in super majorities you need notjust in congress across the individual states. that would be a pretty difficult one. the last few years have been pretty extraordinary so you would never rule anything out or any kind of change to the constitution, but i'm trying to think when the last constitutional amendment was passed, i think it is several decades at least and that was a pretty banal one that handled the pay of congressmen. gary, cominu the pay of congressmen. gary, coming back — the pay of congressmen. gary, coming back to _ the pay of congressmen. gary, coming back to what _ the pay of congressmen. gary, coming back to what we - the pay of congressmen. gary, coming back to what we will i the pay of congressmen. gary, l coming back to what we will see in the next few minutes, this may be the routine, it did not happen four years ago of course and current presidentjoe biden

is desperate to talk about and to focus on underpinning basic planks of american democracy, the peaceful transfer of power, and today is a really important moment in all that? it is and today is a really important moment in all that?— moment in all that? it is part ofthe moment in all that? it is part of the ritual, _ moment in all that? it is part of the ritual, part _ moment in all that? it is part of the ritual, part of- moment in all that? it is part of the ritual, part of the - of the ritual, part of the choreography of a transition of a handover of power from choreography of a transition of a handover of powerfrom one party in this case to another, and joe biden is a believer in some of those norms that transcend the tactical, the strategic moves of politics and party affiliation and i think that it's what he is trying to demonstrate, that those norms are over and above all that other stuff. are over and above all that otherstuff. donald are over and above all that other stuff. donald trump has made a political career by overturning norms, overturning the rules of politics, what is and it's not possible politically, so he will not have much truck with age, but

he is still going through the motions at least of doing this thing, unclearwhy, i don't suppose he is interested or after advice from the current president and he has not signed some of the documentation that would smooth the way for that translation, not least in terms of helping his own team is getting in contact with federal departments and getting that process under way. this is a photo opportunity, a short meeting, it might be little more than that.— meeting, it might be little more than that. tell me about some of the — more than that. tell me about some of the names _ more than that. tell me about some of the names donald - more than that. tell me about. some of the names donald trump has been talking about, his picks, and your assessment of those? i picks, and your assessment of those? ~' , ., picks, and your assessment of those? ~ ,., ., picks, and your assessment of those? ~ ., , , those? i think some are pretty predictable. — those? i think some are pretty predictable, we _ those? i think some are pretty predictable, we knew- those? i think some are pretty predictable, we knew elon - those? i think some are pretty i predictable, we knew elon musk would have a role, i think it was always very unlikely he would go into the administration because that would involve all sorts of divestments and putting all sorts of businesses on hold and

bearing in mind he has huge interests in government contract, not least in the space industry, his businesses have gone up and their share prices have gone up substantially the election so i think it would be a clipping of the wings and elon musk might find that pretty difficult but he has this advisory role outside of government, this efficiency role where he is hoping and claiming he might be able to find $2 trillion out of the federal budget. marco rubio will be nominated as secretary of state, he is very hawkish on things like china, on things like ukraine. he is very loyal to donald trump and certainly has been over the last eight years ever since he dropped out of that campaign to be the presidential nominee for the republicans when he and donald trump went out to a bit publicly, donald trump used to call him the medal marco during

that campaign. then we have the secretary of defence, pete hegseth, an unknown name to most, he has no government experience, he is a former member of the national guard, he has served in afghanistan and iraq but latterly being a presenter on the fox news channel here in the united states, very hawkish on the military and the way that the military and the way that the military he believes has been taken over by the woke agenda, he is very anti that and he has called for the sacking of the chairman of the joint called for the sacking of the chairman of thejoint chiefs of staff under the generals too. so very much in the vein that donald trump has talked over his frustrations over the military and what they will and won't do. bearing in mind is one of these key priorities for the trump administration is this mass deportation of migrants, they say the largest everin migrants, they say the largest ever in us history. i don't think anyone thinks i can be done simply by the people employed by the department of

homeland security and indeed the customs and border force town at the southern border, i don't think they have enough people to deport millions so if they are serious about this they are serious about this they may well involve the national guard, they may well attempt to involve the military, and you can see the potential clash. when it comes to the military there is a standing authority which says that us military can't be used for domestic law enforcement on things like that, so there are potentially huge clashes down the line between military leadership and the civilian authorities here.— leadership and the civilian authorities here. and i suspect that will stretch, _ authorities here. and i suspect that will stretch, obviously, i that will stretch, obviously, into the legal threshold too because they are talking, aren't they, about supporting potentially children who have been born in the us from people who come into the country illegally. that will undoubtedly be challenged in the courts, which brings me back around to something jd

vance said which was the appointment of the attorney general in his view was going to be the second most important appointment that donald trump makes, and that raised eyebrows that you can see so many different strands where virtual would be critically important. absolutely, not least for some of the headline priorities, if you like, pardoning people who rioted on january the 6th, you like, pardoning people who rioted onjanuary the 6th, he has promised to do that, moving the department away from its civil rights division which does lots of work on police violence, defending religious freedom is, to take on affirmative action and those policies in some places that try to encourage diversity, those sorts of issues, not least making sure donald trump, those federal cases against donald trump, are dropped. i think that will happen by default anyway even without a new attorney general. but bear in mind it is notjust the

leadership of thejustice leadership of the justice department, leadership of thejustice department, the third arm here, the third part of the separation of powers, the judiciary, has also been reshaped, like congress, that has been reshaped over the last few years. we have a supreme court with six conservatives on it and three what you might call liberals, there are lifetime appointments, we have already seen them overturn a woman's right to abortion, roe v wade, we have seen a judgment earlier this year giving wide—ranging immunity to the act of a president and notjust at the supreme court level but the appeals court. the federal appeal courtjust below that. donald trump appointed more than 50 judges to the federal appeal court and flipped a number of them in terms of the balance between conservatives and liberals, all of which means the judicial landscape is transformed in his

favour too. landscape is transformed in his favourtoo. if landscape is transformed in his favour too. if he gets challenged in court there is some more, perhaps more sympathetic ears waiting on the bench. , ., ~ ., bench. gary, we talked a few minutes ago _ bench. gary, we talked a few minutes ago about _ bench. gary, we talked a few minutes ago about the - bench. gary, we talked a fewl minutes ago about the various appointments donald trump is piecing together. talk us through the senate oversight that normally comes with each of those major appointments. yeah, there is a whole bunch of posts in a new administration that the senate gets to approve, but i suppose the most important ones are the official cabinet roles, those people who run the federal agencies, like the secretary of state, secretary of agriculture, the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of agriculture, the secretary of defence, they need to be voted through by senators. you also have to get approval from senators. you also have to get approvalfrom most senators. you also have to get approval from most of the heads of the intelligence agencies, the director of national intelligence, the most senior intelligence, the most senior intelligence official in the country, that senate approval,

as is the cia, as is the nsa and the defence intelligence agency, the whole senior infrastructure the. and supreme courtjudges as we know all go through there. i think we have one senate seat outstanding through there. i think we have o