Trump’s Great American State Fair reveals how he has turned the Semiquincentennial into a celebration of himself

WASHINGTON — The Great American State Fair on the National Mall should have been the rousing centerpiece of America’s 250th birthday celebration. Instead, it is a perfect tribute to President Donald Trump.

With its cheap, slapdash imagining of Trump’s America and its constant political homage to POTUS and MAGA, the exhibit has little to do with commemorating the Declaration of Independence, U.S. history, or American culture. The exhibits lack even the delicious, tacky, lively atmosphere of state fairs (the few visible animals I saw were all fake).

With few exceptions, it is a vapid, empty insult to the best aspects of this nation.

When I remember the Semiquincentennial, I will be thinking more about scenes of Brazilian soccer fans visiting Philadelphia’s Independence Hall and warm interactions between locals across the country and visiting World Cup tourists. These personal exchanges may offset some of the hostility so many countries feel about Trump’s foreign policy.

And yet, I’m glad I visited the fair on Monday because it reminds me of how different the president’s vision is from the real America that is ignored in this tribute to Trump.

A true celebration could have displayed the best of this country, what the United States has gotten right, while providing the moment for serious reflection on what has gone wrong — and what needs desperately to be remedied at home and in our foreign relations. No matter how uphill that struggle seems under Trump.

Instead, the Great American State Fair mainly consists of several long, white, one-story buildings fronted by fake Greek columns and punctuated by closed doors. The structures extend on either side of large expanses of mall greenery which were almost empty, as the 88-degree heat sent the scant numbers of visitors inside in in search of air-conditioning.

Behind those doors are small exhibits by each state (11 of which, including Pennsylvania, opted out due to the politicization of the fair or cost concerns), or by U.S. government departments (including “WAR”) and agencies and religious groups. Most state exhibits are tourism displays with posters, literature, or videos, with a few exceptions like South Dakota, whose state historic commission mounted excellent posters about the vivid characters, including women and Sioux leaders, who settled its land.

Towering over the few attendees out in the sun is a 110-foot Ferris wheel (which has been mostly stationary because of electrical problems) and a small mock-up of Trump’s planned and controversial Arch of Triumph topped by gold angels.

The image portrayed is of a country isolated from its own people and the world.

However, visitors can collect Trump literature from AMAC (the Association of Mature American Citizens), listen to a Bible lecture, and hear how “America shall be saved” from a group called “The Great Awakening.” They can bid for a $700 “marriage getaway,” sign up their children for a Trump savings account, or fill out a recruitment form for the U.S. military or U.S. Secret Service. They can also view a copy of the limited edition “Patriot Passport” with Trump’s photo on it inside a glass case at the U.S. Department of State exhibit and get a free paper copy.

Trump, Trump, and more Trump. The Washington celebration of our 250th birthday wasn’t supposed to look this way.

Congress started planning for this anniversary in 2016, when it created America250, a bipartisan commission that was supposed to program nonpartisan events for all Americans. The idea was to unify the country in celebration.

Its original plans were focused on a parade through the capital with “diverse floats” and marching bands, along with an energetic festival of the nation’s cultural diversity on the mall organized by the Smithsonian.

Anyone who has ever attended the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the mall can imagine how wonderful this could have been. On one occasion when I was there, one side of the mall was celebrating the culture of India and the other Louisiana and Cajun culture, with bands of old-timers and their acolytes playing washboards, banjos, and accordions, while tents dished out Cajun food.

This year, one side of the mall might have hosted cultures of the immigrants who have built America, and the other could have presented tributes to the Declaration of Independence, its impact around the world, and how its flaws regarding slavery and women were remediated by law.

Instead, Trump squeezed out America250 by virtually replacing it with Freedom 250, which is partly funded with taxpayer money and partly by donors. The New York Times has detailed how donors were offered access to Trump for million-dollar contributions.

Instead of funding projects connected to key moments in the fight for American independence, Trump’s group focused on his MAGA agenda, his love for spectacle, and his person. Thus, his vision of America’s 250th birthday celebration has centered on his arch, on a $60 million UFC match on the White House lawn, and on an IndyCar race through the capital scheduled for August. As for the fair on the mall, it has been focused on an opening (political) speech by Trump (after most planned musical acts withdrew due to the fair’s partisan nature), and another rally on July Fourth.

Unity out. Division in. Who cares about celebrating our founding document and the aspirational values on which the country has been built, when Trump can have circuses that celebrate only him?

And that is why I point to the World Cup games as a sign that Americans still know how to display their best qualities as a people. What particularly moved me was watching the huge kilted Scottish contingent break through sometimes insular Bostonians’ reserve when it belted out John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” at Fenway Park.

Americans are so much better than this sterile exhibition on the mall. In the warmth displayed across the country to World Cup visitors they have shown a welcoming nature still unsullied by Trump’s efforts to make people hate the other.

Back in the states and cities, many celebrations of July Fourth will probably still capture that warmth. It still exists. In Philadelphia, history museums are doing a terrific job of commemorating the declaration.

But you can certainly skip visiting Trump’s Great American State Fair, which reveals his total disdain for what this holiday really means.