Trump orders inauguration be held indoors due to freezing temperatures

Former president Ronald Reagan also held his second inauguration ceremony indoors

Workers prepare for the presidential inauguration parade in Washington, which will now take place indoors. Bloomberg

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US president-elect Donald Trump on Friday said his second inauguration on January 20 will be held indoors due to forecasts of record cold temperatures. His swearing-in and other inaugural events will be held in the US Capitol rotunda, while the inaugural parade will take place in the Capitol One Arena in Washington.

"I have ordered the Inauguration Address, in addition to prayers and other speeches, to be delivered in the US Capitol rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather," he said in a post on Truth Social.

Meteorologists have projected that a polar vortex will envelope much of the nation, including the capital, in freezing Arctic air – making Mr Trump's second inauguration the coldest in 40 years.

“This would be one of the coldest outbreaks certainly of the past 10 years, 15 years,” winter weather expert Judah Cohen of Atmospheric Environmental Research told the Associated Press. “It’s pulling air out of Siberia. And, you know, that’s consistent with these stretches because when the polar vortex stretches, the flow starts in Siberia and ends in the United States.”

The frigid temperatures, paired with strong wind chills of 48kph to 56kph, are expected to arrive in Washington before Mr Trump's inauguration day.

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Mr Trump said that the decision was made due to "dangerous conditions" with the "windchill factor" and "temperatures into severe record lows".

"I don't want to see people hurt, or injured in any way," he wrote.

The National Weather Service predicts that temperatures will be minus 6°C at noon for his swearing-in, the coldest since Ronald Reagan's second inauguration. Temperatures during Mr Reagan's ceremony in 1985 were at minus 1°C, forcing the inaugural ceremony indoors in the US Capitol rotunda. The parade was cancelled that year.

The temperature during former president Barack Obama's first inauguration was minus 2°C, but the swearing-in was still held outdoors. The inaugural parade, which usually moves up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, will instead take place inside the Capital One Arena.

"We will open Capital One Arena on Monday for LIVE viewing of this Historic event, and to host the Presidential Parade. I will join the crowd at Capital One, after my Swearing In," Mr Trump wrote.