WASHINGTON — President Donald J. Trump will walk into the Oval Office and be stunned.

First, it will be a shock to work in an office decorated with images of men other than himself. Second, he is bound to be suffused with awe as he looks around at the Remington bronze bronco, the Rockwell “Statue of Liberty,” the portraits of Washington and Lincoln, the Swedish ivy on the mantel that has eavesdropped — and leavesdropped — on so much history.

The new president will suddenly realize that Joe Biden is right. He needs to grow up. Chuck Schumer is right. He has to stop nonsense-tweeting and name-calling. John McCain is right. He needs to stop fawning over Vladimir Putin, his B.F.F. whose eyes flash “K.G.B.”

Donald Trump will, at long last, assume a mantle of dignity.

NOT!

The capital has never been more anxious about its own government. The town is suffering pre-traumatic stress disorder. This guy is really going to be president.

Finally, there is bipartisan consensus: It’s time to flip out. Decades after duck-and-cover was a way of life, people here are once more in duck-and-cover mode. No one knows what is going to happen, but they know it will be utter chaos and that the old familiar ways have vaporized.