President Donald Trump’s second inauguration will be an indoor affair, as the temperature Monday in Washington, D.C., is expected to dip under 20 degrees, with a wind chill forecasted to make the weather feel like single digits.
Trump will be sworn in as the 47th U.S. President inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, and the inaugural parade will be staged in the Capitol One Arena. He is not the only president to move his inauguration indoors because of frigid conditions. It is expected to be the coldest Inauguration Day since 1985, when Ronald Reagan was sworn in for a second term in 7 degree weather. Like Trump’s second inauguration, Reagan’s second swearing-in was held inside the Capitol rotunda, and the inaugural parade—featuring an Alaskan dogsled pulled by 21 huskies—was cancelled.
In 1909, William Taft took the oath of office inside the Senate chamber after a blizzard dropped nearly 10 inches of snow on D.C. But the parade was held outdoors, featuring 20,000 marchers.
“I always knew it would be a cold day in hell when I became president,” Taft quipped at the time, according to the Washington Post.
Some presidents have held inauguration events outside despite icy, cold temperatures, like President John F. Kennedy, who took the oath of office in 22-degree weather. Eight inches of snow had dropped unexpectedly the day prior— “paralyzing” the D.C. area, according to the Washington Post. —and the U.S. Army Engineers worked overtime to clear the snow in time for the ceremony and parade.
Trump urged anyone coming to see his inauguration to dress warmly, but also encouraged them to watch the events on television. As he posted Jan. 17 on the social networking site Truth Social, “I don’t want to see people hurt, or injured, in any way.”
