Ceremony draws smaller crowd than for Obama

Far fewer people attended President Donald Trump’s inauguration than his predecessor’s swearing-in eight years ago.

Photos of the National Mall from President Barack Obama’s inauguration in January 2009 show a teeming crowd stretching from the West Front of the US Capitol all the way to the Washington Monument.

Photos taken from the same position on Friday show large swathes of empty space on the Mall.

Thin crowds and semiempty bleachers also dotted the inaugural parade route.

Hotels across the district of Columbia reported vacancies, a rarity for an event as large as a presidential inauguration.

And ridership on the Washington’s Metro system did not match that of recent inaugurations.

As of 11am on Friday, there were 193,000 trips taken, according to the transit service’s Twitter account.

At the same hour eight years ago, there had been 513,000 trips. Four years later, there were 317,000 for Mr Obama’s second inauguration.

There were 197,000 at 11am in 2005 for President George W. Bush’s second inauguration.

The Metro system also posted that only two car parks at stations were more than 60% full.

The smaller crowds may prove humbling for Mr Trump, who frequently boasted during the campaign about the attendance at his rallies and would claim, often inaccurately, that thousands more people were waiting outside and unable to get into the event.

Some Trump supporters were slowed entering the Mall due to delays at security checkpoints caused by protesters.

Thousands of people at Mr Obama’s inaugurations were also delayed due to logistical hold-ups at the security checkpoints.

An official crowd count of Trump’s inauguration may not ever be known.

For decades, the National Park Service provided official crowd estimates for gatherings on the National Mall.

People sitting on the parade stands in Washington while the rain falls