Donald Trump’s swearing-in ceremony is to be moved indoors due to cold weather forecast for Washington DC on Monday.
In a message posted on his Truth Social platform, the U. S. president-elect said he will now be sworn in at the Capitol rotunda, where dignitaries and visitors will gather and prayers and other speeches will also be delivered.
It means the roughly 250,000 people who had tickets to watch the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds will no longer be able to do so.
Thousands more are expected to be in general admission slots or heading from the Capitol to the White House.
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Mr Trump said the Capital One Arena in Washington will open for a live viewing of his swearing-in ceremony and to host the Presidential Parade.
“I will be signing up for the crowd at Capital One after my swearing-in,” he said.
Outlining the reasons for the swearing-in ceremony being moved indoors, he wrote in his Truth Social post: “The weather forecast for Washington DC, with the wind chill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows.
“There is an explosion in the Arctic that is spreading across the country. There is no way I need to see other people hurt or harmed.
“These are detrimental situations for the tens of thousands of law enforcement officers, first responders, police K9s and even horses, as well as the thousands of enthusiasts who will be outdoors for many hours on the 20th.
“In any case, if you’re coming, dress warmly. “
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Trump wrote that all other events like his inauguration “will be the same,” adding the victory rally at Capital One Arena on Sunday and the three inaugural balls on Monday night.
He added: “Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and combined, we will make America great again!” »
A spokesperson for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) said in a statement that it would “honor the request of the president-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremony inside the United States Capitol to the rotunda. “
The last time an inauguration ceremony was held indoors was Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985. Monday’s forecast suggests the coldest temperatures for Inauguration Day since that day.
The National Weather Service predicts temperatures will be around -6°C at noon on Inauguration Day, the coldest temperature since Reagan’s second inauguration, when temperatures dropped to -14°C.
During Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, the temperature was -2°C. To climb the slope, the wind is expected to be between 30 and 35 mph.
In the days after his first inauguration in 2017, Mr Trump accused the media of lying about the turnout at the ceremony.
The president insisted that the crowds at the occasion extended to the Washington Monument, even though photos and photographs of the site showed gigantic empty spaces around the monument.
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His press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, delved into a heated White House briefing, describing it as “the largest audience ever for an inauguration, period. “
Although the National Park Service no longer provides estimates of crowds at inaugurations, photographic evidence shows that many more people attended Mr. Obama’s 2009 ceremony.