WAHINGTON, Jan 18 : President-elect Donald Trumpâs inauguration will take place inside the U.S. Capitol on Monday rather than outdoors because of severe cold, the first time in 40 years that U.S. presidential inaugural ceremonies will be moved indoors.
The move upends months of meticulous planning for a massive outdoor event set for hundreds and thousands of ticketed people.
Outlining the reasons for the swearing-in ceremony being moved indoors, Trump wrote in his Truth Social post: âThe weather forecast for Washington DC, with the wind chill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows.
âThere is an Arctic blast sweeping the country. I donât want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way.
âIt is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of law enforcement, first responders, police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th.
âIn any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly.â
It means the roughly 250,000 people who had tickets to watch the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds will no longer be able to do so.
The last time an inauguration was moved indoors because of the bitter cold was in 1985 for former Republican President Ronald Reaganâs second swearing-in when the afternoon wind chill fell into the range of minus 10 to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 to minus 29 degrees Celsius).
The forecast for Washington on Monday is for a temperature at the time of Trumpâs swearing-in around 19 F (minus 7 C) but it is expected to feel even colder with wind chill.
A spokesperson for the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) said in a statement that it will âhonour the request of the President-elect and his Presidential Inaugural Committee to move the 60th Inaugural Ceremonies inside the US Capitol to the Rotundaâ.
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