Trump Says Inaugural Ceremony to Move Indoors Due to Severe Cold
(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump said he would move his swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address indoors due to extreme cold forecast in Washington for Monday.
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“There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country,” Trump said in a social media post. “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 on the 20th.”
Trump said that Capital One Arena in downtown Washington would be opened for supporters, and that the arena - home to the NBA’s Washington Wizards and NHL’s Washington Capitals - would also be the site of the inaugural parade.
“I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In,” Trump said.
Washington is expected to have a high temperature of just 22F (-6C) on Monday, which prompted officials to consider alternatives inside the Capitol.
On Jan. 21, 1985, Ronald Reagan’s second inaugural ceremony was moved indoors, with the thermometer hitting 7F at noon that day, and afternoon wind chills as low as -20F. The next coldest January swearing-in was John F. Kennedy’s at 22F in 1961.
Moving the ceremony inside threatens to deprive Trump, who frequently boasts of crowd sizes at his rallies, a large public event for his second swearing-in. But Trump said he believed it would still be “a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience!”
Plans for a rally at the arena on Sunday before the inauguration and for a trio of inaugural balls in the evening at the Washington Convention Center and Union Station would go forward as originally planned, Trump added.
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