WASHINGTON —
Swearing-in ceremony President-elect Donald Trump will be held inside the U.S. Capitol on Monday because of expected freezing cold weather.
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.
“It is my obligation to protect the People of our Country but, before we even begin, we have to think of the Inauguration itself. The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill 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,” Trump said in a post on social media platform Truth Social.
President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration in 1985 was the last time a swearing-in ceremony was moved indoors.
Trump said in his post that he has “ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda,” with dignitaries and guests brought into the Capitol.
The president-elect said the Capital One Arena, located in another part of Washington, will be opened Monday for live viewing of the inauguration and to host the parade. He said he will join the crowd at the indoor arena, after his swearing-in, which is set for 12 p.m. local time.
“The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies will honor the request of the President-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies inside the U.S. Capitol to the Rotunda,” the committee said in a statement.
The committee always makes contingency plans to host the inauguration in multiple locations in case of weather or other obstacles, but the challenge now is where to put the thousands of people who would have been outside but cannot all fit in the Rotunda.AMN / WEB DESK