The change means that Trump will not be standing on the steps of the Capitol and therefore will not be able to address a crowd gathered on the National Mall from there. The Republican always makes it a point to ensure that his events are attended by large numbers of people; By moving it inside the Capitol, the number of spectators will be far lower than usual.
In the past few days, Washington had been preparing for hundreds of thousands of visitors, many of whom will now be watching the ceremony on television. At his inauguration in 2017, Trump reacted angrily to the fact that the ceremony was attended by far fewer people than Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009.
The ceremony in the rotunda will now be broadcast live to the Capitol One Arena in Washington, which has space for a good 20,000 people. The ceremony will be “a wonderful experience for everyone, and especially for the large television audience,” Trump said on his Truth Social online service. The Republican also announced that he would appear at the Capitol One Arena after his swearing-in.
The last president to move the swearing-in ceremony to the Capitol Rotunda because of the cold was Ronald Reagan in 1985. William Henry Harrison, the 9th US President, is known to have given his inaugural address in bitter cold in March 1841 without a hat or coat. The 68-year-old died of pneumonia a month later.
Spectators braving the cold on Monday will be able to see the newly sworn-in president as he travels from the Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House. The White House, the Capitol and parts of Pennsylvania Avenue are currently surrounded by 8-foot-tall security fencing. Around 25,000 police and soldiers were mobilized in the capital for the swearing-in ceremony.
Trump begins his second term in office on Monday. At 78 years and seven months, the Republican is the oldest US president ever to be sworn in. His predecessor Joe Biden was five years younger when he took office in 2021.