WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump will be sworn in as president in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Monday, after forecast bitter cold prompted planners to move the ceremony under the building’s neoclassical dome for the first time in four decades.
The change means Trump will take the oath of office in the 96-foot (29 m), 180-foot (55 m) high sandstone chamber in the center of the Capitol, the same spot where some of his supporters rallied on January 6. , 2021, in an attempt to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. Here’s a look at the January 6 events that took place in the Capitol Rotunda.
* On Jan. 6, rioters smashed windows as they battled police to force their way into the Capitol, causing what the Capitol architect estimated to be about $1.5 million in damage to the building. Some carried flags and red MAGA caps, others in helmets, gas masks and tactical vests, robbed for photography. Rioters climbed statues, including former presidents Gerald Ford (NYSE: ) and Ronald Reagan.
One man was photographed walking through the Rotunda carrying a lectern used by the Speaker of the House, then-Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
* The next day, then-Democratic Rep. Andy Kim stopped on his way to work, kneeling on the floor of the Rotunda to pick up trash left behind by rioters. Kim was elected to the US Senate in November.
* Crews struggled for days to repair damage and clean up the remains of chemical irritants fired by police in the battle as they prepared for the inauguration of Democratic President Joe Biden.
* When the US House of Representatives voted for the second time on January 6 to impeach Trump over his conduct, nine Democrats in the House officially triggered the start of his trial on January 25, 2021, when they sent the charges back through the Rotunda, sending them to the Senate to trial. Trump was eventually acquitted in the Senate.
* Former U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who fought rioters on Jan. 6 and died the next day, was laid to rest in the Rotunda — an honor usually reserved for senior elected officials on Feb. 3, 2021.
He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for the Defense of Representatives, which his parents, Charles and Gladys Sicknick, accepted on December 6, 2022. They pointedly refused to salute the Senate and House of Representatives then-top Republicans, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy.
* Trump returned to the Capitol for the first time since the riots on January 9, 2025, stopping in the Rotunda to pay tribute to former President Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29.
