United States President-elect, Donald Trump, has confirmed that his inaugural address on January 20 will now take place indoors due to a forecast of dangerously cold weather.
. The speech, along with other addresses, will be held in the rotunda of the US Capitol, instead of outside the building.
Additionally, the inaugural parade will be relocated to the Capital One Arena, located about one mile from the Capitol in downtown Washington. The arena will also host all three inaugural balls.
The last president to be sworn in indoors due to extreme cold was Ronald Reagan in 1985.
Trump made the announcement through his Truth Social platform, stating, “I do not want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way” because of the freezing temperatures.
He pointed out that the weather conditions posed dangers for law enforcement, first responders, police K9s, horses, and “hundreds of thousands” of supporters. He added, “In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly.”
The Capital One Arena will be open for people to watch the inaugural address live.
Trump also mentioned his plans to visit the arena after the swearing-in ceremony. While a modified parade is still planned, the exact details regarding its location remain unclear.
Inauguration Day is expected to be one of the coldest in US history, with temperatures forecast to reach a low of -11°C (12°F) and a high of -5°C (23°F). With the wind chill, it will feel even colder. The cold weather is part of a larger polar vortex affecting much of the country.
Organizers had initially planned to distribute about 220,000 tickets to watch the event at the US Capitol.
For those without tickets, the ceremonies would have been visible from the National Mall, but new arrangements will be made due to the move indoors.
Trump reassured, “Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, Make America Great Again.”
While the relocation of the events means a smaller capacity for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, he emphasized that other inaugural events, including a rally on Sunday and three official inaugural balls on Monday evening, will proceed as scheduled.
Following his first inauguration, Trump controversially claimed a crowd of “a million and a half people” attended his National Mall event, although experts later estimated the number to be closer to one-third of that, compared to the crowd size at Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009.
Joe Biden’s inauguration had around 1,000 attendees due to Covid-19 restrictions.
In a historical note, President William Henry Harrison’s 1841 inauguration, which took place in cold, wet conditions, led to him contracting pneumonia.
He passed away just one month later, marking the shortest presidency in US history.
