'Spent thousands': Trump fans who traveled to DC furious after inauguration moved indoors

17 January

Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump have been flocking to Washington D.C. in advance of his second inauguration on Monday. But many were caught off-guard at the news that the incoming president would be conducting his swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol rotunda, where only V.I.P. guests will be able to attend.

The Daily Beast reported Friday that after the news broke that the outdoor inauguration ceremony had been relocated, Trump fans who traveled from across the country were outraged. NBC Washington was the first to inform Oklahoma resident Ken Robinson that the inauguration had been moved indoors due to frigid temperatures and high winds in Monday's weather forecast.

"I don't like it! I mean we came all the way from Oklahoma, and now we're not gonna get to see him?" Robinson said. "We might as well have stayed home and watched it on TV."

"We have farms," Oklahoma-based Trump supporter Harry Troyer said. "We don’t get to not feed the cows cause it’s cold."

National Park Service officials had already begun the process of giving out the approximately 220,000 tickets for inauguration attendees prior to the announcement that the ceremony had been moved to the U.S. Capitol. Attendees have been invited to watch the inauguration via livestream at Washington D.C.'s Capital One Arena (home of the Washington Wizards NBA franchise), though the facility only has roughly 20,000 seats, meaning many Trump supporters will still be unable to even watch the inauguration there.

Following the change in venue, CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane tweeted that those inauguration tickets have now been designated as merely "commemorative." This is despite some tickets selling for $500 apiece on Craigslist as of Thursday.

"The majority of ticketed guests will not be able to attend the ceremonies in person," read a memo by the House Sergeant at Arms.

"It's actually something that we've been looking forward to for historical purposes and being a part of it, that's once in a lifetime," Trump supporter Jose Granado, who traveled to D.C. from Florida, told NBC Washington. "Made all the plans, all the arrangements to come up and be a part of this event. And all of a sudden to hear that it's moved indoors, it's kind of like a bummer."

“Spent thousands of dollars on a hotel room and now they aren’t having an Inauguration for the public,” one Trump supporter wrote on X. “Wtf.”

“We have coats and will wear them. Already bought expensive hotels, rental cars, subway tickets etc etc,” another X user wrote. “We the people were prepared for the cold. We want to see Trump in person. Rain snow sleet warm cold it don’t matter.”

Watch NBC Washington's interviews with Trump supporters below, or by clicking this link.

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