Metal fences, concrete barriers and security checkpoints still line many the walkways and cross streets of the National Mall – extending from the U.S. Capitol down past some of Washington’s most noted landmarks – as the nation prepares to swear in its 47^th president.

But while the 0.6-square-kilometer (146-acre) swath of land is often the highlight of many a tourist visit, it is no longer the focus of security efforts for when President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office for a second time.

Frigid temperatures forecast for much of Monday led Trump to move the festivities inside – the inauguration to the U.S. Capitol Rotunda and the traditional inaugural parade to the nearby Capital One Arena.

The changes, first announced Friday, presented a last-minute hitch for security and law enforcement officials, who had been planning for the inauguration for the past year.

And it has left them, and the approximately 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel charged with security, with multiple challenges.

“We will shift those assets,” said the U.S. Secret Service’s Matt McCool, briefing reporters Sunday.

“We have not cut anything from what our original plan was,” he said. “I’m very confident, with our partners here, we will be ready.”

The numbers could make the situation especially trying.

Organizers had expected about 250,000 ticketed guests to descend on the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall to watch the inauguration.

Only a select few will be allowed into the Capitol Rotunda, which accommodates just 600 people. And the Capital One Area seats just 20,000.

If even just a fraction of the 250,000 people who had planned on attending the inauguration try to get to the arena, there could be a crunch.

Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said Sunday her force, bolstered by and about 4,000 police officers from across the U.S., will be ready.

“Nothing has really changed,” Smith told reporters. “The police officers that were committed and dedicated to coming here, we’ll be flexible in how we’ll adjust [their] movement. … So, we will still have police officers in places and spaces around our city as we initially planned.”

Some of those officers, Smith said, will still be assigned to the original parade route in anticipation that some people will try to get a glimpse of the presidential motorcade as it goes by.

U.S. Capitol Police said they also anticipate having officers on the periphery of the West Front of the Capitol – now closed off with the inauguration moved indoors – ready to direct ticketed guests who will no longer be able to attend.

In addition, the inaugural security contingent, which includes the U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, U.S. Capitol Police, Washington Metropolitan Police, and some 7,800 members of the U.S. Army and Air National Guard, will all be coordinated from a command center linked into an expanded network of cameras keeping watch on the city.

And though security measures in some areas, including along parts of the National Mall, have been relaxed, officials said there will be plenty of reminders for anyone coming to Washington that this is no ordinary time.

“They will see tactical teams,” McCool said, during an earlier briefing with reporters last week. “They’ll see, officers and agents on rooftops, they’ll see checkpoints. They’ll see road closures and barriers in concrete.”

Even before the inauguration was moved inside, officials had been preparing for what they described as “a higher threat environment,” cautioning the security plans for this inauguration were already more robust than in the past.

“The biggest threat, I think, for all of us remains the lone actor,” said Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger. “That threat … remains the biggest justification for us being on this heightened stage state of alert.”

Those concerns were heightened following the New Year’s Day terror attack and truck ramming in New Orleans and the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Earlier this month Capitol Police arrested two men suspected of trying to disrupt the state funeral for former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, one who tried to bring knives and a machete into the Capitol and another who set their car on fire.

Research, including a recent survey by the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats, adds to the concerns.

“Over 5% of the American public supports the use of force to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president,” Robert Pape, the project’s director, told VOA.

“That equates to 14,000,000 American adults,” he said. “That’s an unfortunately disturbing number.”

Already, Trump was also the target of two attempted assassinations.

There is also an ongoing threat from Iran. Despite repeated Iranian denials, U.S. security and law enforcement officials have accused Tehran of trying to kill Trump, unveiling one plot set to be carried out last year, in the days after the U.S. presidential election.

For now, though, U.S. officials see no signs of impending trouble.

“The FBI is not currently tracking any credible or specific threats to the inaugural ceremony or the Capitol complex,” the bureau’s Washington Field Office told VOA. “We will continue to work closely with our partners to share information and identify and disrupt any threats that may emerge.”

Another source for concern is the tens of thousands of protesters, though so far, there have been no major incidents.

Saturday’s People’s March, which was permitted to have as many as 50,000 protesters, sparked only brief tensions with Trump supporters.

Another group, called We Fight Back, has permits for protests involving about 10,000 people in across several locations on Monday.

“Please note that [we] will ensure your right to peacefully protest and assemble,” said the Metropolitan Police Department’s Smith.

“However, I want to reiterate, as I always have, that violence, destruction and unlawful behavior will not be tolerated,” she said. “Offenders will face swift and decisive consequences … anyone who thinks that they can come into this city to destroy property, we will be prepared to deal with them.”

Kim Lewis contributed to this report.

While Monday’s inauguration ceremony for President-elect Donald Trump is set to break with tradition and take place inside the Capitol due to dangerously low temperatures, it’s not the first presidential swearing in to take place in an unusual place — one president was even sworn in aboard a plane.

The first inaugurations in U.S. history didn’t happen in Washington, D.C. President George Washington was sworn in for his first term on April 27, 1789, on a balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, which was serving as the temporary capital of the U.S., according to the Library of Congress. He was sworn in for his second term at the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia.

The first inauguration in Washington, D.C.

John Adams was also sworn in as president in Philadelphia. It wasn’t until Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration that the swearing in ceremony was moved to Washington, D.C. Jefferson took the oath of office inside the U.S. Capitol in 1801.

“Wanting to get away from pomp and circumstance associated with aristocracy, he simply walked the few blocks from his boarding house to the Senate, where he was sworn in by Justice John Marshall,” according to the National Park Service. “When it was over, he simply walked back. Returning to the boarding house late for dinner, Jefferson took one of the only remaining seats at the far end of the table. Given the occasion, someone offered him a better seat near the fireplace. Staying true to his egalitarian platform, Jefferson refused.”

Being sworn in outside Washington

While most inauguration ceremonies in the years since have taken place in Washington, not all of them have happened there. 

After President James Garfield was shot in 1881, then-Vice President Chester A. Arthur took the oath of office in New York City at his private residence shortly after Garfield’s death.

President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in following the assassination of President William McKinley, who was shot on Sept. 6, 1901. McKinley was expected to recover, so Roosevelt, then vice president, went camping in the Adirondacks. Roosevelt rushed to Buffalo, New York, when he heard that McKinley was not expected to survive. He was sworn in as president on Sept. 14, 1901 at the Ansley Wilcox residence in Buffalo.

After President Warren G. Harding’s unexpected August 1923 death following an apparent heart attack, President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in at the Coolidge family home in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. 

President Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in aboard Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was the first time a woman administered the oath of office. It was also the first and and only time a president took the oath of office on an airplane. 

Inside the Capitol or outside, east or west

Jefferson brought the inauguration to Washington, but his ceremony took place inside. President Andrew Jackson in 1829 became the first president whose inauguration was held outside on the Capitol’s east portico. From Jackson’s inauguration until President Jimmy Carter’s in 1977, the ceremony largely took place outdoors in front of the Capitol’s east portico, according to the Library of Congress. 

The inauguration was held in March until Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s second inauguration in 1937, so the threat of freezing cold temperatures were not as dire. But in 1841, William Henry Harrison’s inauguration was held on a bitterly cold day and he delivered the longest speech to date — and he died one month later of pneumonia.

President William Taft in 1909, amid heavy snow and strong winds, was sworn in at the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol, although the parade still place outside.

President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1981 was the first to happen on the west front of the Capitol, which has been the customary site in the years since. His inauguration for his second term, however, happened inside. Wind chills made it feel below zero on that day in 1985, so Reagan took the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda. 

Ohio State’s linebackers coach from 2019-21, Washington is now in his third season as Notre Dame’s defensive line coach. Washington joined Marcus Freeman’s inaugural staff in 2022 when he and Ohio State parted ways following the hiring of Jim Knowles as defensive coordinator.

Despite their split three years ago, Washington still has nothing but good things to say about Day and Ohio State.

“A ton of respect for Ryan. I’ve known him for a long time,” Washington said of Day, who Washington previously worked with at Boston College. “I had a great time at Ohio State. Unbelievable experiences with the kids. … My time at Ohio State has been valuable to me professionally and personally.”

Asked if he had a favorite memory from his time at Ohio State, Washington said “there’s too many to name” but said most of them center around his relationships with the players.

Washington’s lasting bonds with Ohio State go beyond his relationship with Day, as Ohio State’s linebacker unit still includes multiple players he either coached or recruited to Ohio State, namely Cody Simon in the former category and C.J. Hicks in the latter. He also knows the coach who currently holds the position he used to hold on Ryan Day’s staff, as current Ohio State linebackers coach James Laurinaitis was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame in 2022 before joining the Buckeyes’ staff in 2023.

“James is the best,” Washington told Eleven Warriors at Saturday’s national championship game media day. “Obviously, he’s knowledgeable, well-versed in linebacker play and just football, but just a great person, man. Ton of respect for him and the job he’s done over there. I know a lot of those guys that he’s working with – not all of them, some of them – and I know they’re in the best of hands, man. He’s doing a great job.”

With Washington coaching up its defensive linemen, Notre Dame’s defense has been one of the best in the country this season just like Ohio State’s, ranking just behind OSU as the No. 2 scoring defense in the country with only 14.3 points allowed per game. He believes the Fighting Irish’s success this season has stemmed from its togetherness and competitiveness, and Washington says that starts with the leadership of Freeman, an Ohio State alumnus who Washington had also previously worked with when both were on the defensive staff at Cincinnati in 2017.

“High-character person, great leader of people and cares for people,” Washington said of Freeman. “Those things really impacted my decision (to join Notre Dame’s staff).”

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As his current team prepares to face his former team in the national championship game, Washington sees a lot of common threads between them that have allowed both Ohio State and Notre Dame to get to this point.

“I think they’re both led by good people, and I think there’s a culture of toughness and hard work that’s common throughout both teams,” Washington said. “A lot of pride.”