Donald Trump has announced that his second inauguration ceremony will be moved indoors at the US Capitol due to dangerously cold temperatures forecast to hit the nation’s capital on Monday that would make the traditional outdoor swearing-in ceremony unsafe.
“The weather forecast for Washington DC, 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 Truth Social post.
“Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather.”
The precise details of how the ceremony will be conducted are uncertain because Trump announced the news before transition officials and the joint congressional planning committee had finalized plans, according to people familiar with the matter.
Trump promised, for instance, that “guests and donors” would be with him in the rotunda to watch him and vice president-elect JD Vance be sworn into office. But the other ticket holders and donors are still without clear guidance.
The rotunda is often used for special events at the Capitol, for instance for state funerals, and there is infrastructure in place to seat roughly a hundred or so people in that space.
Related: Trump inauguration: 10 things to know – from when it starts to how to watch
Trump said in his post that the parade that typically follows, down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, would be rerouted so he could go to the Capital One Arena nearby where he suggested guests unable to be relocated could watch the inauguration.
The Capital One Arena – a sports venue where the Washington Wizards ice hockey team play their home games – is already being used for Trump’s first rally since he won the election and has had its security measures upgraded for that event scheduled to take place on Sunday night.
Trump also said that all other events happening on the sidelines of the inauguration would continue as planned. After he is sworn at the Capitol and signs a flurry of executive orders, Trump is expected to attend a number of events culminating with the “Starlight Ball” for major donors.
The last president to be sworn in inside was Reagan in 1985, when temperatures plunged to 7F (-13C). The wind chill forecast for Trump’s second inauguration is expected to make it feel like 8F, and it is also expected to snow the night before.
Trump’s inauguration and his return to the Oval Office is set for Monday as he sweeps back into Washington. In warmer moments, the ceremony draws large crowds and outdoor celebrations – and protests – as America’s transition of power takes place.
