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The plans for President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration had been in the works for months — but officials are now scrambling to figure out new options as freezing temperatures have forced proceedings to move inside for the first time in 40 years.
Trump confirmed his inauguration would be moving inside on Friday as temperatures are forecast to plummet to the low 20s and said he didn’t want to see people “hurt or injured” due to the cold.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Dignitaries and guests will also be brought into the Capitol building. “This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!” he said.
The announcement triggered frantic calls and emergency meetings amongst officials, as many members of Congress only heard about the new plans via the media, the Washington Post reports.
Staff had to quickly get to work assembling a new podium inside the Rotunda for the ceremony.
Due to the number of people who can fit in the Rotunda, the new plans mean that many lawmakers will likely be unable to attend. When Reagan’s 1985 inauguration was held in the Rotunda, only 96 people were invited, according to reports from the time, and not everyone on Trump’s guestlist will be able to fit inside.
Representative Becca Balint (D-Vt) told Axios that she was “still trying to figure out what this announcement means,” and that there is “definitely not enough room” in the Rotunda. Representative Troy Nehls (R-Texas) acknowledged to the outlet that he will likely not be in the building either, but said he would remain with his 46 guests.
The Joint Congressional Committee, the bipartisan group tasked with planning the event, distributed 220,000 tickets for the inauguration, but ticketholders have been advised the event will now be “commemorative,” according to an email sent on Friday by the House Sergeant at Arms, the Post reports. “The majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person,” the email said.
The change of plans and the Arctic temperatures have caused many inauguration goers to reconsider their trips to D.C. altogether, while some of those already in the nation’s capital expressed disappointment.
Supporters and many major donors will watching the swearing-in live at the Capitol One Arena where it will be screened — and Trump said he planned to join the crowd after the ceremony in the Rotunda.
“We might as well stay at home and watch it on TV. I’m kind of disappointed, to be honest with you,” Ken Robinson, who traveled from Oklahoma to experience the event, told NBC News. “We came here to watch it in person. We don’t really care to watch it on a Jumbotron.”
“We made all of the plans and all of the arrangements to come up and be a part of this event, and … it’s kind of a bummer,” Jose Granado, who traveled from Florida, told the network.
The move comes eight years after Trump obsessed about the crowd size at his first inauguration.
