By Tim Reid and Doina Chiacu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump mentioned his inauguration on Monday will happen contained in the U.S. Capitol quite than outdoor due to extreme chilly, the primary time in 40 years that U.S. presidential inaugural ceremonies might be moved indoors.
“There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country. I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way,” Trump mentioned on his Fact Social platform on Friday.
“Therefore, I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the United States Capitol Rotunda,” Trump added.
The final time an inauguration was moved indoors due to the bitter chilly was in 1985 for former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s second swearing-in when the afternoon wind chill fell into the vary of minus 10 to minus 20 levels Fahrenheit (minus 23 to minus 29 Celsius).
The climate forecast for Washington on Monday predicts temperatures on the time of Trump’s swearing-in to be round 19 F (minus 7 levels C), however will really feel even colder with wind chill.
Trump mentioned supporters can view the ceremony on screens contained in the Capital One (NYSE:) Enviornment, a sports activities venue in downtown Washington that holds 20,000 individuals.
Trump additionally mentioned his presidential parade, which was set to contain marching bands and different teams continuing down Pennsylvania Avenue previous the White Home, might be switched to contained in the Capital One Enviornment. It was not instantly clear how a parade can be organized contained in the sports activities venue.
Trump mentioned he would be part of the group on the area after he’s sworn in.
Trump is because of maintain a rally with supporters inside the identical area on Sunday, the eve of his inauguration.
Bitter chilly has had an impression on a number of previous inaugurations.
William Henry Harrison, the ninth U.S. president, delivered the longest inaugural tackle on March 4, 1841, in moist and chilly situations with out a hat or overcoat.
That occasion and speech had been thought to have contributed to his later succumbing to pneumonia. He died one month after taking workplace, making his presidency the shortest in American historical past.
Through the second swearing-in ceremony for President Ulysses S. Grant on March 4, 1873, a number of cadets and midshipmen standing exterior with out overcoats collapsed and gusting winds made Grant’s tackle inaudible to even these near him on the platform, in accordance with a historical past printed by the Nationwide Climate Service. The morning low temperature of 4 F (-15 C) on that day stays Washington’s coldest March day on file.
