Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony will have to take place indoors due to the cold weather forecast for Monday in Washington DC.
In a message posted on his Truth Social platform, the US president-elect said he will now take the oath of office in the Capitol rotunda, where dignitaries and visitors will gather and prayers and other speeches will also be delivered.
This means that the approximately 250,000 people who had tickets to watch the inauguration from around the Capitol 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.
A guide to everything that will happen on 20 January
Trump said Washington’s Capital One Arena would open for a screening of his inauguration rite and to host the presidential parade.
“I will sign 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 Arctic blast sweeping the country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way.
“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. “
Read more: What happens now with Trump’s criminal cases?Trump is doing everything he can to undermine Biden. Could Trump end the war in Ukraine in a day?Which celebrities will attend Trump’s inauguration?
Trump wrote that all other occasions similar to his inauguration “will be the same,” adding the victory rally at the Capital One Arena on Sunday and the three inaugural balls on Monday night.
He added: “Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, 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 rite inside the U. S. 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 that the temperature will be around -6°C at noon of the inauguration, the coldest temperature since Sánchez’s second inauguration. Reagan, which saw temperatures drop to -14°C.
During Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, the temperature was -2°C. To get on the dive, the wind is expected to be between 30 and 35 mph.
In the days after his first inauguration in 2017, Trump accused the media of lying about participation in the ceremony.
The president insisted that the crowd at the event extended all the way to the Washington Monument, even though photos and photographs of the scene showed gigantic empty spaces around the monument.
? Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app ?
His press secretary at the time, Sean Spicer, went beyond a heated White House briefing, describing it as “the largest hearing ever for an inauguration, period. “
Although the National Park Service no longer provides attendance estimates for inaugurations, photographic evidence shows that many more people attended Obama’s rite in 2009.