Capital One Arena in downtown D.C. will be open Monday for people to watch President-elect Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address due to the brutally cold temperatures expected to hit the nation's capital, Trump announced Friday.
Trump said on Truth Social he ordered the inauguration to be moved inside the U.S. Capitol rotunda. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inauguration Ceremonies (JCCIC) said in a statement Friday that they'll honor Trump's request.
At Freedom Plaza across from the Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, workers were already taking down stands set up for the parade. Instead, Trump said he will go to Capital One Arena after his swearing-in and speech at the rotunda.
"We will open Capital One Arena on Monday for LIVE viewing of this Historic event, and to host the Presidential Parade," Trump said in part. "I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In."
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Trump said in his post that all other events would stay the same, including the victory rally at Capital One Arena set for 3 p.m. Sunday.
Coldest inauguration in years
Storm Team4 anticipates Monday will be one of the coldest presidential inaugurations in history. D.C. is on track to get 2 to 4 inches of snow Sunday before a blast of arctic air.
But it won't be the first time the swearing-in ceremony was moved inside the Capitol due to cold weather.
President Ronald Reagan's second inauguration in 1985 was held indoors due to a wind chill of -20°. It remains the coldest inauguration on record, with a high temperature of just 7°.
There are some records of President Ulysses S. Grant’s second inauguration having a numbing high of only 16° in March 1873. (Inaugurations were previously held in March and were moved to January starting with President Franklin D. Roosevelt's second inauguration in 1937.
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy’s Inauguration Day was 22°, with windy conditions and snow on the ground.
In more recent years, President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 felt much colder than 28° due to wind chill.
'It sucks,' say Trump supporters who traveled to DC
Some Trump supporters already in town ahead of the inauguration told NBC News they weren't happy that the ceremony was moving indoors.
Two friends who traveled from Miami said it "sucks."
“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,” José Granado told NBC News' Gary Grumbach as they walked along the National Mall on Friday.
“We’re prepared for the weather; it’s not a problem,” George Gonzalez said.
A family who traveled from Oklahoma was also less than pleased.
“We might as well stay at home and watch it on TV. I’m kind of disappointed, to be honest with you,” Ken Robinson said. “We came here to watch it in person. We don’t really care to watch it on a Jumbotron.”
“Cold ain't gonna hurt nobody,” Harry Troyer of Oklahoma said. “We have farms, and we don’t get to not feed the cows 'cause it’s cold.”
Capital One Arena seats a maximum of 20,000 people. It's not yet clear how it will be determined who will be allowed into the arena and where people are expected to go if crowds exceed 20,000.
For comparison, the congressional committee overseeing the inauguration distributed 240,000 tickets for space on the National Mall, according to the U.S. Capitol Police.
JCCIC recommended that those in town for the inauguration who are unable to attend find other indoor events to watch. The Presidential Inaugural Committee is designating certain places to watch and will provide more information.
It does not appear the National Mall will be one of those designated places, as some fencing there was starting to be dismantled Friday, according to a senior administration official with direct knowledge of the situation, and there are no current plans to broadcast any events on Jumbotrons there.
Also unclear: How the changes to the Inauguration Day festivities will affect road closures around D.C. News4 has reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department, the mayor's office and other safety agencies for additional details.
