Donald Trump is notoriously obsessed with crowd size, but any efforts to shut down a number of inaugural attendees will be complicated by the ceremony being moved inside the Capitol building due to frigid weather.
About 250,000 ticketed spectators were expected to descend on downtown Washington for the event, but the viewing area was closed off. Inaugurations also typically draw hundreds of thousands of non-ticketed people to the National Mall, but this year's turnout will be compromised by the weather.
The presidential parade, which usually proceeds down Pennsylvania Ave from the Capitol to the White House, was moved to the 20,000-capacity Capital One Arena.
In 2017, Trump took heat after photos showed fewer people at the mall to witness his first inauguration than Barack Obama's in 2009.
According to PolitiFact, an estimated 250,000 to 600,000 people attended Trump's first inauguration. Obama's inaugurations drew an estimated* 1.8 million (2009) and 1 million (2013) people to the National Mall, while George W. Bush's drew 300,000 (2001) and 400,000 (2005).
