President-elect Donald Trump may take the oath of office from inside the Capitol Rotunda on Monday (January 20, 2025) due to forecasts of intense cold weather.
“The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows,” Mr. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. “There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way.”
The Rotunda is prepared as the alternative for each inauguration in the event of inclement weather. The swearing-in was last moved indoors in 1985, when President Ronald Reagan began his second term. Monday’s (January 20, 25) forecast calls for the lowest inauguration day temperatures since that day.
Ronald Reagan is sworn in as 40th President of the United States by Chief Justice Warren Burger beside his wife Nancy Reagan during the inauguration ceremony on January 21, 1985 at the Capitol Rotunda in Washington D.C. | Photo Credit: AFP
Alternate plans are required for the roughly 250,000 guests ticketed to view the inauguration from around the Capitol grounds and the tens of thousands more expected to be in general admission areas or to line the inaugural parade route from the Capitol to the White House.
Mr. Trump said some supporters would be able to watch the ceremony from Washington’s Capital One area on Monday (January 20, 2025), a day after he plans to hold a rally there. He said he would visit the arena after his swearing-in.
The National Weather Service is predicting the temperature to be around (minus) 6°C at noon during the swearing-in, the coldest since Reagan’s second inauguration saw temperatures plunge to (minus) 14°C. Barack Obama’s 2009 swearing-in was (minus) 2°C. Adding to the bite: Wind is forecast to be 48 to 56 kmph, sending wind chills into the single digits.
Published – January 17, 2025 11:00 pm IST
