President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday is being moved indoors due to subfreezing temperatures headed for the nation’s capital.
The high in Washington, D.C. is expected to hit just 25 degrees when Trump becomes the nation’s 47th president. Daytime winds gusting up to 20 mph will add to the chill, making the weather outside feel as frigid as 8 degrees.
It’s set to be the coldest Inauguration Day since 1985, when twice-elected Republican President Ronald Reagan was sworn in on a dangerously chilly 7-degree day.
Trump said on social media Friday that he’d given the order to move his swearing-in ceremony to the Capitol Rotunda, just as Reagan did when he began his second term on the coldest Inauguration Day on record.
“It is my obligation to protect the people of our country but, before we even begin, we have to think of the Inauguration itself,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way. It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of law enforcement, first responders, police K9s and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours.”
Trump said Capital One Arena, where Washington’s NHL and NBA teams play, will be open for a live viewing of the ceremony. He plans to head there to greet guests after being sworn in to office.
Monday night’s three inaugural balls are expected to proceed as scheduled.
“Everyone will be safe, everyone will be happy, and we will, together, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump ended his announcement.
Organizers were bracing for 250,000 ticketed guests attending Trump’s inauguration, with thousands more packing onto the National Mall, before the event was moved indoors.
The four other living U.S. presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden — plan to attend Monday’s ceremony. They’ll be joined by Trump-supporting tech billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, the latter of whom is co-hosting a reception Monday evening ahead of the inaugural balls.
Musicians Carrie Underwood, Kid Rock, Lee Greenwood, the Village People and Billy Ray Cyrus are slated to perform during the day’s events.