Donald Trump has a well-known fixation on crowd size, but any attempt to determine the number of attendees at the inauguration will face challenges due to the event being moved indoors to the Capitol building because of freezing temperatures.
Approximately 250,000 ticketed spectators were anticipated to gather in downtown Washington for the event, but the designated viewing area has been closed off. Inaugurations typically draw hundreds of thousands of un-ticketed people to the National Mall, but this year’s turnout will likely be affected by the weather conditions.
The traditional presidential parade, which usually travels down Pennsylvania Ave from the Capitol to the White House, has been relocated to the Capital One Arena, with a seating capacity of 20,000 people.
In 2017, Trump was angered by photos revealing fewer people present on the mall for his inauguration compared to Barack Obama’s in 2009.
PolitiFact estimates that approximately 250,000 to 600,000 people attended Trump’s first inauguration. Obama’s inaugurations saw an estimated 1.8mn (2009) and 1mn (2013) attendees on the National Mall, while George W. Bush’s drew 300,000 (2001) and 400,000 (2005).
