BYU student attends Trump’s second inauguration outside of the U.S. Capitol
Jan 20, 2025, 6:45 PM | Updated: 6:57 pm
WASHINGTON — When plans changed to move President Donald Trump’s inauguration inside, that left people in Washington D.C. who wanted to witness the transfer of power in person, out in the cold. One of them was a Brigham Young University student who decided to go anyway.
Emily Cupp knew she wouldn’t be getting the same experience as she would have had the inauguration outside the U.S. Capitol. Still, she didn’t want to miss this piece of history, especially since they were already so close. She and her friends weren’t the only ones.

Emily Cupp with others outside of the U.S. Capitol watching President Donald Trump being inaugurated. (Courtesy Emily Cupp)
They took videos and photos of the small crowd that, like her, decided to gather along the National Mall. Cupp said about 1,000 people were there, watching the inauguration on their phones and listening to it on speakers set up outside.
She said that although they were somewhat removed from the proceedings, everyone still felt like they were part of it.
“It was interesting, especially during the speech, everyone was crowded around the speaker, and so when President Trump would say something that he’s planning on doing, everyone would start cheering,” Cupp said.

People standing outside of the U.S. Capitol during Donald Trump’s second presidential inauguration. (Courtesy Emily Cupp)
She said that when she went to see the motorcade, the cold became too much, and she and her friends went home. But she said just based on everyone’s accents she could hear, you could tell those that showed up, like her, had traveled from all over the country to be there.
Cupp is finishing her student teaching in D.C. and will graduate from BYU in April. She lives there right now, teaching high school world history.
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