Donald Trump’s inauguration to be held inside Capitol due to cold weather

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Washington: For the first time in 40 years, the ceremony of the newly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, will be held inside the Capitol instead of outside due to extreme cold.

“Therefore, I have ordered that the inaugural address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda,” Trump added.

The inauguration was last moved indoors due to bitter cold in 1985, when former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration saw the afternoon air temperature drop from -23 to -29 degrees Celsius.

The forecast for Washington on Monday is around -7 degrees Celsius for Trump’s inauguration, but it’s expected to feel even colder with a wind chill.

Trump said supporters could watch the event on screens inside Capital One Arena, a 20,000-seat professional basketball and hockey venue in downtown Washington.

He said his presidential parade, which included a marching band and other groups marching down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House, would be moved to the Capitol One Arena. It was not immediately clear how the parade would be organized inside the sports venue.

Trump said he would join the crowd on the field after being sworn in.

Rally inside Capital One Arena

The switch means Trump’s crowd size won’t compare to previous inaugurations. After his first inauguration, in 2017, Trump, a Republican, was angered by media reports that the crowds on the National Mall were smaller than those for former Democratic President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. Saw taking the oath.

The change in plans will greatly reduce the number of people able to see the event in person. Many of the more than 220,000 ticketed guests who came to watch from the US Capitol grounds will not be able to see the swearing-in inside the building.

In addition, 250,000 unelected members of the public were predicted to line the National Mall for the outdoor ceremony, according to a permit issued by the National Park Service to Trump’s inaugural committee. Only a fraction of that number will fit into the Capital One Arena.

School secretary Tammy Matt, her pastor husband Paul and their high school son Michael had tickets provided by their local congressman but learned they would not be seeing Trump in person in Laurel, Mississippi. The trip was cancelled.

Matt, 58, said he was no longer willing to drive nearly 1,000 miles to Washington. “We don’t think it’s worth not seeing the event in person,” Matt said.

The National Park Service, which oversees the National Mall, did not immediately say whether crowds would still be allowed to watch the indoor event on giant video screens already on the mall.

Trump is scheduled to hold a rally with supporters inside Capital One Arena on Sunday to mark his inauguration.

Alex Varley, a law enforcement spokesman, said the Secret Service was working with Trump’s inauguration committee and the congressional committee in charge of the inauguration to “adjust our security plans as needed. weather.”

Winter Opening

Cold weather has been prominent in the past several inaugurations. Temperatures were also colder than Obama’s first inauguration in 2009, rising by about 1.5 degrees Celsius.

On March 4, 1841, the ninth US president, William Henry Harrison, delivered the longest inaugural address without a hat or overcoat in wet and cold conditions.

The incident and the speech were believed to have contributed to his later contracting pneumonia. He died a month after taking office, making his presidency the shortest in American history.

During the second inauguration of President Ulysses S. Grant on March 4, 1873, several cadets and midshipmen standing outside without overcoats fell and a strong wind made Grant’s speech inaudible to those closest to him on the platform. gave National Weather Service

The morning low of 15 degrees Celsius is Washington’s coldest March day.