President-elect Donald Trump will take the oath of office inside the Capitol building on Monday due to the forecast of intensely cold weather on inauguration day.
"The weather forecast for Washington with the wind factor could drop temperatures to record lows. Arctic winds are blowing through the country. I don't want people to get hurt in any way," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The rotunda beneath the Capitol dome is prepared as an alternate site for each inauguration in case of inclement weather. The swearing-in ceremony was last moved inside in 1985, when President Ronald Reagan began his second term. The forecast for Monday calls for the lowest temperature for Inauguration Day since that day.
Outgoing President Joseph Biden, members of Congress and other officials and distinguished guests will be able to watch the ceremony at the Capitol.
Alternative plans are needed for more than the estimated 250.000 guests who have tickets to watch the inauguration in front of the Capitol, and tens of thousands more expected to be in areas where general access is allowed or along the route of the inaugural parade from the Capitol to the White House.
Trump said other events accompanying the inauguration, including a gathering on Sunday and his participation in three inaugural balls on Monday night, would go ahead as planned.
The Secret Service, which is leading security planning for the inauguration, said it was working with organizers to "adjust" its plans for the event due to the changes.
The National Weather Service predicts temperatures at noon, when the swearing-in is scheduled, will be minus six degrees Celsius, the coldest since Reagan's second inauguration, when the temperature was minus 14 degrees Celsius. When Barack Obama was sworn in, the temperature was minus two degrees Celsius.
Trump's inaugural committee announced earlier today that, as during his first inauguration, Trump will take the oath of office on the family Bible given to him by his mother, as well as on the Bible used by President Abraham Lincoln during his first inauguration in 1861.
Vice President J.D. Vance will be sworn in on the family Bible given to him by his maternal grandmother.
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