President-elect Donald J. Trump said Friday that his inauguration would be moved inside the Capitol Rotunda because of weather concerns.
The change for Monday’s events means that far fewer people will be able to watch the moment when Mr. Trump officially becomes the 47th president, limiting it to a much smaller group of invited guests indoors and those watching on television.
But the switch means the attendees, security officials and spectators will not have to endure dangerous conditions while watching in the bitter cold for hours. It also avoids the potential for smaller crowds because of the weather; the reports that he had smaller crowds in 2017 than President Barack Obama had at his 2009 inauguration enraged Mr. Trump and sent him on a dayslong effort to produce a counternarrative.
The conversation within Mr. Trump’s circle this week had focused on the extreme cold that is forecast for Monday, when temperatures are projected to drop to a low of 11 degrees Fahrenheit with a high of only 23 degrees.
The last time a swearing-in moved indoors was in 1985 for President Ronald Reagan’s second inauguration, amid similar conditions.
“The weather forecast for Washington, D.C., with the windchill factor, could take temperatures into severe record lows. There is an Arctic blast sweeping the Country,” Mr. Trump wrote on his social media website, 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 on the 20th (In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly!),” he wrote.
He added that he had ordered that his own address, various speeches and prayers would take place in the Rotunda.
He said that he plans to use Capital One Arena, which sits several blocks from the National Mall, for people to gather to watch the inaugural events live, and said he would join them there afterward.
His inaugural parade is also now expected to be incorporated into the viewing party at Capital One Arena in Washington, according to Mr. Trump’s social media post.
