WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump will be sworn in as president in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Monday, after forecasts of extreme cold prompted planners to move the ceremony under the building's neoclassical dome for the first time in four decades.
The shift means Trump will take the oath of office in a sandstone hall 96 feet (29 meters) wide and 180 feet (55 meters) high in the center of the Capitol, the same place where some of his supporters rioted on January 6. 2021, in an attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat. Here is a look at the events related to January 6 that took place in the Capitol Rotunda.
* Rioters smashed windows as they clashed with police on their way into the Capitol on January 6, resulting in what the Architect of the Capitol estimated at $1.5 million in damage to the building. Some carried flags and wore red MAGA hats, while others donned helmets, gas masks and tactical vests, stealing for photos. Rioters climbed statues, including those of former presidents Gerald Ford (NYSE:) and Ronald Reagan.
A man was photographed walking into the rotunda carrying the podium used by House Speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
* The next day, then-Democrat Rep. Andy Kim stopped on his way to work and knelt on the floor of the rotunda to pick up trash left by rioters. Kim was elected to the US Senate in November.
* Crews scrambled for days to repair damage and remove the remains of irritating chemicals released by police in the battle as they prepared for the inauguration of Democratic President Joe Biden.
* When the US House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump again for his conduct on January 6, nine House Democrats officially launched his trial on January 25, 2021, when they brought the charges back through the rotunda and testified. To the Senate for trial. Trump was eventually acquitted in the Senate.
* Former US Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who fought with rioters on January 6 and died the next day, lies in state in the rotunda — a tribute normally reserved for senior elected officials on February 3, 2021.
He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his advocacy for lawmakers, which his parents, Charles and Gladys Sicknick, accepted on December 6, 2022. They pointedly declined to salute the then-top Senate Republicans, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy. .
* Trump returned to the Capitol for the first time since the riot on January 9, 2025, stopping in the rotunda to pay his respects to former President Jimmy Carter, who died on December 29.
