Donald Trump Pressures The National Park Service For Proof Inauguration Crowd Was Lacking

Not only does President Trump not believe the photos taken on his Inauguration Day were an accurate depiction of the crowd, but he wants proof.

The Washington Post reports the 45^th President ordered National Park Service Director Michael T. Reynolds to produce additional photographs of the Inauguration Day audience in Washington, D.C.

This request follows previously expressed sentiments from the new Commander-in-Chief that the photos taken by the media and general public shared on social media were somehow inaccurate. 

Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.

It was previously reported that the new administration told the agency to temporarily stop using Twitter after there was a retweet from their account with a side-by-side comparison of the 2009 and 2017 inauguration.

Compare the crowds: 2009 inauguration at left, 2017 inauguration at right.#Inauguration pic.twitter.com/y7RhIR2nfC

— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) January 20, 2017

The Park Service responded with an apology for that retweet, describing it as a “mistake.”  

We regret the mistaken RTs from our account yesterday and look forward to continuing to share the beauty and history of our parks with you pic.twitter.com/mctNNvlrmv

— NationalParkService (@NatlParkService) January 21, 2017

According to testimony in reports, three individuals allege that Trump had a conversation with Reynolds and “believed that the photos might prove that the media had lied in reporting that attendance had been no better than average.” When speaking to reporters, the individuals who recounted this phone conversation requested to remain anonymous.

Although The Park Service states they don’t release crowd estimates, experts say the 2017 inauguration attendance was approximately a third of the size of former President Obama’s first swearing-in.