--- title: Donald Trump Inauguration: NPS Photos Show Smaller Crowds description: Official aerial photos from the NPS confirmed that President Trump's inauguration was less well-attended than former President Obama's. canonical: https://time.com/4693224/trump-inauguration-size-official-photos/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-07T13:42:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:35.076Z article:section: Politics og:title: Official Photos Show President Trump's Inauguration Was Smaller Than Obama's og:description: Official aerial photos from the NPS confirmed that President Trump's inauguration was less well-attended than former President Obama's. og:url: https://time.com/4693224/trump-inauguration-size-official-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8708036af736dd13/6988bd477cdbacb446d575fc/inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: inauguration og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Official Photos Show President Trump's Inauguration Was Smaller Than Obama's twitter:description: Official aerial photos from the NPS confirmed that President Trump's inauguration was less well-attended than former President Obama's. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8708036af736dd13/6988bd477cdbacb446d575fc/inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Official NPS Photos Show President Trump's Inauguration Was Smaller Than Obama's ## Video: Watch President Trump's Inaugural Address [Watch (HLS stream): Watch President Trump's Inaugural Address](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bL9xqRfb.m3u8) (3:46)  _Published 2017-01-20. Donald Trump delivered his first speech as President of the United States on Friday morning._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 7, 2017 1:42 PM UTC  Left: An aerial view of President Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Right: An aerial view of President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Left: An aerial view of President Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Right: An aerial view of President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C.National Park Service  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Mar 7, 2017 1:42 PM UTC Official aerial photos released Monday by the [National Park Service](http://time.com/4649608/national-parks-climate-change-donald-trump-tweets/) confirmed that President Donald Trump’s inauguration was less well-attended than former President Barack Obama’s. [Comparisons](http://time.com/4641381/donald-trump-inauguration-crowd/) between the two inaugurations drew ire from the Trump administration in January. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer [falsely claimed](http://time.com/4643927/sean-spicer-white-house-donald-trump-inauguration-press-briefing/) that Trump’s inauguration was the most-watched in history. That claim was debunked by photos from various news outlets comparing the crowds at Trump’s inauguration and Obama’s 2009 ceremony. While Trump [accused media organizations](http://time.com/4642469/trump-inauguration-crowd-size/) of lying about the crowd size, the official [National Park Service photos](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/foia/foia-frd.htm) — released Monday in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request — clearly depict the difference in the number of attendees. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4693224/trump-inauguration-size-official-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4693224/trump-inauguration-size-official-photos/"},"headline":"Official NPS Photos Show President Trump's Inauguration Was Smaller Than Obama's","datePublished":"2017-03-07T13:42:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:35.076Z","description":"Official aerial photos from the NPS confirmed that President Trump's inauguration was less well-attended than former President Obama's.","url":"https://time.com/4693224/trump-inauguration-size-official-photos/","keywords":["White House","Donald Trump","onetime","Inauguration 2017"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8708036af736dd13/6988bd477cdbacb446d575fc/inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8708036af736dd13/6988bd477cdbacb446d575fc/inauguration.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"inauguration","caption":"Left: An aerial view of President Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009 in Washington, D.C. 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