AMERICAN FAIR: The Country May Not Be Great Yet, but the Grift Is Grand!
The numbers are in from the Trump financial sideshows now, and they're a whole lot bigger than the numbers for his national fair, which don't stand so grand.
There may be more important headlines today, but there are none as twisted and amusing to talk about as those that cover Trump family business ventures and the Trump State Fair, as it should be called because it is essentially looking like an extended holiday, tacked onto his White House birthday bash, except that the smashing UFC prize fights were more entertaining than anything you’ll see at the fair.
While the TheRump boasted that his Capital extravaganza is practically the best attended fair ever, the opening coverage by Fox News told a different story—one it didn’t intend to tell. Fox made the mistake of having the fairgrounds as the backdrop for its coverage, so while they interviewed all the usual capital clowns that parade through Fox News regularly, the background kept showing a mere smattering of people crawling unenthusiastically across the vast landscape.
In fact, as a display of Trumpian grandeur, the Arc D’ Trump, which was featured in crumbling condition and miniscule scale compared to the planned presidential folly, might as well have had the final description in the Poem Ozymandius written on it:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
That is not too far off from how the capital grounds looked in the background of the Fox broadcast or to how the Arc de Trump looked with its stapled-on vinyl cladding that was supposed to fake white marble, which was starting to peel loose as it shrank in the hot sun, its wobbly structure, and, frankly, boring façade (when compared to the other grand arches built by more grand leaders in other formerly grand empires). Some attendees said it looked like the arch had been purchased “from the bargain website Temu” and assembled on site.
Something that was billed as being in scale like a world fair, celebrating American grandeur, is a testimony to fake structures and cheap façades, because even the pavilions look more like propped-up, movie-set backdrops.
Given how many things broke down or didn’t go as planned, I would not be surprised if the ferris wheel broke lose from its standings and rolled to a rest in the quagmire of the new Trump reflecting swamp. I think even the statue of Abraham Lincoln, sitting at the end of the swamp pond is probably wearing a carbon-filter mask by now to keep out the stagnant stench that so aptly symbolizes the entire Washington government that fails to do anything about Trump as he threatens to take over other nations, destroys parts of the capital grounds, and crushes the global economy under a war that very few Americans wanted. You may disagree with me on the war now, but I doubt you will when the bill comes through in your own bank account in the form of skyrocketing inflation and global stagnation because there is probably more oil floating on top of that reflecting pool right now than floating through the Strait of Hormuz.
Most of the performances that were supposed to entertain the unassembled masses had been cancelled when the artists saw that the whole thing was looking more like Trump Birthday Party 2.0 than like a fair celebrating America’s birthday 250 years ago, which has come to rest in this Trumpian mess. For awhile, the attractions were even appropriately shut down by an energy crisis, which also left the food and ice-cream spoiling and the ferris wheel unrevolving. Oh well, as we’ll likely find out from the Trump-Israel-Iran War by early next year, who needs food? We may even find all our credit no longer so “revolving” as we keep stacking it up to buy the scarce food at soaring prices.
Speaking of food and paralleling what we have seen constantly with the announced Iran diplomatic talks, one of the listed restaurants for the fair was a no-show. It even publicly announced, contrary to the US government claims, that it had never agreed to participate.
It looks like the few people who attended were either dying of boredom or stopping to sleep or take a stretch (because they were bored):
You’d think some of the photos were shot two hours after closing.
There were some fun facts to learn from the states that did show up to take up space in the pavilions: Kansas ranks fourth among states for sunflower growing, and Georgia has topped the ranks for the number of poultry farms since 1951!
One article in the news below describes the fair as “achingly, numbingly dull.” The canning exhibits at the average country fair are more interesting. Listing statistics on reader boards, instead of building grand exhibitions, no one seems to have approached the Trump bash with much enthusiasm. Nearly twenty states didn’t show up at all. In the Wyoming booth, you can stroke actual bison fur, while the top draw of all is the one from Trump’s new home state—now that he is largely ostracized in New York—Florida. The exhibit drawing all the attention—because Florida is known for its Trumpian golf courses—was a 3x5 artificial putting green! At Trump’s age, maybe that is all his cankles can handle.
As for exhibits by departments of state, Defense put on one of the most popular shows by having a couple of marines paint camouflage on the faces of children.
“This is all so weird,” said Amy Cohen, 65, a university administrator from Virginia, “I am really sad and disappointed that what could have been an extraordinary celebration of the many, many things that make the United States a wonderful place was attenuated, reduced and flattened.
“It’s like reading a social studies textbook from the seventh grade. There’s so much vibrancy in the country, and this is unnecessarily vanilla. And there aren’t a lot of people here.”
Trump supporters weren’t convinced either. Holly Lewis, 57, a travel agent from Richmond, Virginia, said: “I grew up with state fairs in Iowa, and this is really disappointing.” She was sitting in a chair at the Maine stall with her daughter Dani, 26.
Besides the chairs, there’s nothing other than a backdrop with a few facts printed on such as: “Maine is the largest producer of blueberries.”
You can capture a sense of the record crowds here:
Emptier than a list of actual accomplishments from Trump’s war with Iran. Of course, today’s fake news being what it is, they probably cheated and took that photo, taken on the 28th, before the fair opened that day. (The fair opened on June 24th and will close … well … none too soon.)
I’d say, save your money and take the kids for some rides and non-melted ice-cream at your local county fair. At least, your county fair might have a real rodeo like the one where I live does, instead of the lone cowboy bouncing on a bucking bronco once a day like Old Faithful, except a lot less often.
Ari Drumm, 58, a salesman who had flown in from Florida, blamed TDS—Trump Derangement Syndrome—for the no-show states and the no-show crowds. “It’s a disgrace,” he said. “We should be together in this. We should be 50 united states and this is not very unified.”
Should be. You can keep on blaming the TDS, or you can recognize that the president has left the country so demoralized in a state of malaise that even very few Trump supporters bothered to show up. Yeah, we should be more unified, but the most divisive president in US history has created a fair that appropriately symbolizes what dividing America in order to conquer leaves you with. As Abraham, who now presides over this affair from the far end of the new green pond of reflective goo, once said: “United we stand, Divided we fall.”
He [Drumm] wore a t-shirt with Maga emblazoned on the front, and as he walked off, the slogan on the back became clear. Beneath photographs of the president and JD Vance, the writing on the back of the t-shirt said: “The Outlaw and the Hillbilly cleaning up America one liberal at a time.”
Well, there it is, as displayed on the Capital Mall—cleaned up so you can see lots of green grass and very few people standing.
Yet, the Big Man, himself, as Hunter Biden once referred to Daddy President, opened his fair by saying,
“Tonight, as we stand on the edge of our 250th year of independence, I am thrilled to declare that America is back,” he said….
Joe Biden or Barack Obama could never have created such a show, Mr Trump insisted.
On that, he is probably correct.
His speech was described as scripted and dull—or, as I would put it, the event planners could have created a better opening event with animatronics of Sleepy Uncle Joe shaking hands with the curtains and then stumbling off the stage over a bag of sand. It would have, at least, been entertaining … and also represented what America seems to be coming to as the powers that be divide and conquer the people that be into two ridiculous camps of squabbling masses, who have come to feel they have nothing in common anymore. Uncle Joe could have even arrived on the stage on a bicycle and fallen over in a face plant. Trump has landed in similar fashion with this event.
But, hey, at least America is Great Again for the Trumps. The Don, himself, amassed over a half-billion-dollar fortune in his first year just from his crypto enterprises, and his two sons are benefiting from investing in a massive tungsten mine that now has been awarded a hefty US military contract. His wife, Melania, made over $17,000,000 last year from her film rights and publisher licensing and “for the sale of NFTs and other collectibles.” In fact, nearly $6,000,000 of her haul came from the “collectibles” category.
It was bad when the Bidens did it, and it’s just as bad when the Trumps do it.
[You’d think that would be a no-brainer for both sides.]
Insider deals, finders’ fees and backdoor introductions to family members are business-as-usual in Third World banana republics, but these slimy practices have now been normalized in the White House, to the shame of the nation.
The Bidens were chumps compared to the Trumps. The Donald, himself, made even more than he gained on crypto from his sales of “celebration coins,” which topped $600,000,000. Trump also reported gifts totaling $370,000, making it clear how he can forego the presidential salary of $400,000/year on gifts alone. It’s a great grift if you can get it!
The disclosure also reveals a bevy of royalty deals that paint a picture of just how exhaustively Trump has been able to capitalize on his name and political brand since entering political life.
The royalty income includes: $4.7 million received through a licensing agreement for “Trump Watches” with The Best Watches on Earth LLC; a deal related to the publication of “The Greenwood Bible,” a collaboration with “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, netting $208,486; a licensing deal for “Trump Sneakers & Fragrances” for $67,634; an endorsement of a ”’45′ Guitar” for $35,920; and publishing agreements for “Letters to Trump,” “Save America” and “A MAGA Journey,” for $590,730, $1,893,965 and $552,685, respectively.
It takes a whole department of accountants just to keep track of all his presidential sidelines. Trump’s towering figures clearly show his eventual payouts to writer E. Jean Carroll for her successful sexual-abuse/libel law suits, if he ever actually makes those payments, will be mere Trump change compared to a single year of jingle made from the White House.
It’s a good thing, though, that he is not dependent on the gate fees and concessions from his fair.
America may not be great yet, but the grift is grand!
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