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Parts of Donald Trump’s inauguration will be moved inside the US Capitol due to freezing weather forecast for Washington on Monday.
It will be the first time since 1985 — when a bitter cold snap hit Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration — that an inauguration ceremony has been moved indoors.
The president-elect announced the revised plans in a Social Truth post Friday, saying he had ordered the inaugural address, as well as prayers and speeches, to be given inside the Capitol Rotunda, as Reagan had done four decades earlier.
“There’s an Arctic outbreak sweeping the country. I don’t want to see people hurt or hurt in any way,” Trump wrote.
“It’s dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of Law Enforcement, First Responders, police K9s and even horses, and the hundreds of thousands of supporters who will be out for many hours on the 20th.”
The National Weather Service said an “enhanced winter storm threat” was in place for Sunday afternoon and evening and predicted about 2-4 inches of snow would fall, with a “reasonable worst-case scenario ” of 4-8 inches.
“Strong cold winds” are expected Monday through Wednesday, the NWS said Friday, after predicting temperatures to be “well below freezing” during the period.
The agency is predicting a maximum temperature of -5C at 11am local time on Monday, when the swearing-in ceremony begins, with a wind chill of -13C it warned could result in hypothermia or frostbite. proper clothing.
Trump said the Capital One Arena – with a capacity of 20,000 – will open on Monday for a live viewing of the ceremony and that he will visit the venue, located about 2 km from the Capitol, after his inauguration.
Other events, including a victory rally at the arena scheduled for Sunday and the inaugural balls set for Monday night, will go ahead as planned, the president-elect said.
Trump encouraged supporters who choose to come to “dress warmly!”
