Moving the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump indoors due to expected freezing temperatures means most guests with tickets will not be able to attend the ceremony in person.
“Those with tickets for the Presidential Platform and members of Congress will be able to attend in person,” the Joint Inaugural Committee said. But the “vast majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person.”
“We strongly suggest people who are in Washington for the event attend other indoor events at indoor venues of their choice to watch the inauguration,” the committee said.
On Inauguration Day, temperatures in the U.S. capital are expected to hit a low of 11 degrees Fahrenheit (-11 degrees Celsius) and a high of just 23 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 degrees Celsius), and it is expected to feel even colder with the wind chill. The frigid temperatures mean Trump's inauguration is expected to be the coldest in 40 years, according to meteorologists.
“I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way,” Trump said on Truth Social.
President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985 was the last time a swearing-in ceremony was moved indoors.
Many of the more than 220,000 ticketed guests who had been set to watch from the U.S. Capitol grounds will be unable to watch in person as Trump takes the oath of office. The U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement that the ticketed outside areas on the West Front of the Capitol will be closed Monday.
In an email to House of Representatives offices, the House Sergeant at Arms asked congressional offices to tell their constituents who had been given tickets that they were now “commemorative” since most of them will not be able to watch in person as Trump becomes president.
What’s more, 250,000 people without tickets were expected to stand on the National Mall for the outdoor ceremony, according to a permit issued to Trump’s inaugural committee by the National Park Service.
Trump said supporters can watch the ceremony on screens inside the Capital One Arena, a professional sports and concert venue in downtown Washington. It holds 20,000 people.
Capital One Arena also will be the site of a Sunday afternoon Trump victory rally. The American band the Village People will perform, among others.
Moving Trump’s inauguration inside means it won’t be possible to compare crowd size to previous inauguration ceremonies.
After his first inauguration in 2017, Trump expressed frustration with media reports indicating that the crowd on the National Mall was smaller than the one that witnessed the swearing-in of former President Barack Obama in 2009, according to reports.
With Trump’s inauguration just days away, various civil rights, racial justice and reproductive health groups organized a demonstration called the People’s March in downtown Washington on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of people were expected to take part in the protest against Trump. Rather than narrowly focusing on the president-elect, the demonstration is focusing on a broader set of goals around women’s and reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, climate and democracy, organizers said.
The People’s March is a rebrand of the Women’s March, when more than 1 million people filled the streets of Washington the day after Trump was sworn in for the first time in 2017, according to various media reports.
Another protest is scheduled for Inauguration Day, but it’s unclear if that will be affected by the freezing temperatures.
Some information in this report came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
