Weeks before Republican Donald Trump was set to take office as President of the United States on January 20, 2025, social media posts circulated a photograph of a structure built in front of the White House, claiming it is a prison. This is false; the structure is the media platform for journalists covering the inauguration parade.
“MAJOR ALERT: THE JAIL OUTSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE IS ALMOST COMPLETE !!! ARE YOU READY TO SEE ARRESTS ???” says a November 30, 2024 X post.
The claim circulated elsewhere on social media including posts in Spanish.
Screenshot of an X post taken January 3, 2025
The posts come amid pledges by Trump to make swift changes upon taking office, promising executive orders related to the transgender population and immigration once sworn in for his second term. However, the structure seen in the viral image is not a detention facility, as the posts claim.
Press platform
A reverse image search led to a live stream (archived here), on EarthTV’s YouTube channel, showing the exterior of the White House from the same angle.
The image shared on social media appears to be a still taken from that broadcast.
A keyword search led to a news report published October 17, 2024, detailing National Park Service (NPS) plans for construction of grandstands for the upcoming Inaugural Parade.
The NPS published a press release October 11, in which it states that the work began October 1 (archived here).
An AFP photographer captured a photo of the construction November 8, 2024.
The presidential Inauguration parade review stand is being assembled along Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House on November 8, 2024
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDSAFP
ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP
Mike Litterst, head of communications for the National Mall and Memorial Parks unit of the NPS, said in a December 27, 2024 email: “The structure in question is, in fact, the media platform in front of the president’s rostrum for the 60th presidential inauguration.”
Litterst shared a photo of the project, taken on December 6, 2024, showing the same structure seen in the social media posts.
Construction of the press stage leading up to the 2025 Presidential Inaugural Parade, shared by the National Park Service
He also shared a photograph of the a similar structure completed prior to the 2013 inauguration ceremony.
Image of the finished press stage prior to the 2013 Presidential Inaugural Parade, shared by the National Park Service
“As you can see, the same design is in use in all three cases. It can also be confirmed on the website of the architectural firm that designed the facility,” he said.
Litterst provided a statement from the architectural firm McKissack & McKissack which was selected to build such structures for previous inaugurations (archived here).
A search of the firm’s social media pages shows it is again building the viewing stands. An Instagram post shared on November 5, 2024 includes a photograph of the start of construction in front of the White House (archived here).
AFP contacted the White House and McKissack & McKissack but a response was not forthcoming.
More of AFP’s reporting on US politics can be found here.