Welcome to Tuesday’s edition of Washington Secrets, which arrives groggy after a day in the sun and a night staying up too late watching World Cup soccer. So just what is the Great American State Fair like? Well, in some ways, it is a perfect encapsulation of the nation in 2026: a raw display of power, all built for speed, but with small acts of defiance everywhere!
Dean Cain, the actor who was once Superman, turned to television’s Dr. Oz on the Freedom Stage and asked, “Why are people saying there’s no one here?”
Their audience at that point on Monday afternoon at the Great American State Fair could be counted on the fingers of three people.
Headlines so far have focused on the small crowds at what is meant to be the capital’s 250th celebration of what makes America great (again). Snarky millennial journalists have busied themselves with stories with titles such as, “I went to the Great American State Fair so you don’t have to.”
Yet that misses the gentle buzz of excitement when Secrets visited. Locals and tourists hurried around the pavilions showcasing the best of each state and territory. (Or most of them — there is still no sign of Pennsylvania amid political wrangling.) Some clutched “passports” collecting stamps as they went.
Each state was housed in temporary plywood structures. They were dressed up to resemble the neoclassical architecture of Washington, giving them the air of fancy strip malls. Some had Trumpian golden eagles atop the roofs, and a flimsy triumphal arch stood at the center beside the Ferris wheel.
Look closely, and the pavilions really did tell the story of America, if perhaps not quite in the way organizers intended.
New Jersey’s exhibit was filled with a 7,000-pound sandcastle constructed from Jersey Shore sand.
North Carolina’s cabin was turned into a NASCAR garage. There was no longer a sign of the Confederate flag video, which had caused such a ruckus on Friday.
The District of Columbia did itself no favors in its quest for statehood with a booth largely empty but for a tree dressed with cherry blossoms and “petals of positivity” in the form of inspiring messages left by guests.
But the longest lines were for Arizona’s pavilion. It had crammed three geographic zones into its 30-foot-by-30-foot space. Visitors moved from the sandstone cliffs of Antelope Canyon to the dappled light of the Ponderosa forests, and then the bright starscape of the Sonoran Desert.
Meanwhile, Oregon and Washington state shared an empty pavilion, with nothing but backdrops that showed beavers and the ocean or Amazon packages and the ocean, respectively.
“They didn’t send anyone,” said the nice volunteer from North Carolina who had stepped in to welcome visitors.
Politics is never far away in Donald Trump’s Washington.
The innovation pavilion showcased the changing nature of power too.
The prime central location was taken by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, with its display of rockets and suits worn on spacewalks. NASA had a busier display of its own spacesuits and plans for a base on the moon but had been shunted to the side.
Some pavilions had the feel of a low-energy Conservative Political Action Conference. Imagine stands run by AMAC, a conservative alternative to AARP, and paintings by Trump favorite Scott LoBaido, whose exhibits included an image of the Stars and Stripes draped over a crucifix.
It all felt a bit slapdash, thrown together in a hurry after Trump hijacked the bipartisan America 250 events for his Freedom 250 celebration. Anyone who has ridden the London Eye, built in the British capital for the millennium celebrations, will wonder why the nation that won the space race has to make do with a Ferris wheel a third of its size.
Against that backdrop, the American Heroes Student Art Contest felt like the resistance. The National Endowment for the Humanities contest asked students in grades 3-12 to create artwork inspired by the 250 Americans to be honored in the National Garden of American Heroes.
For every Revere, Washington, and Lincoln, there was a Tubman, Owens, and Sacagawea. The children seemed to get it.
Outside, MAHA Monday was in full swing. Somewhere, Marla Maples, Trump’s ex-wife — sample quote: “I used to be a Trump” — joined a wellness panel.
A disembodied voice from the Freedom Stage warned listeners not to trust any dentist who offered root canal surgery because the procedure neglected underlying bacterial infections that cause systemic disease (a long-debunked theory).
The main stage was hosting a discussion titled “Why water matters.” An earnest academic was recommending the buddy system as a way to encourage friends to drink more water.
Oh, and the discussion was helmed by a representative of the International Bottled Water Association.
Secrets took the hint and repaired to the Budweiser bar, a fold-out shipping container with seating and panoramic views of the National Mall, to rehydrate with a watery Michelob Ultra.
Fair staff were beginning to move the picnic tables and garbage cans. They do it twice a day to protect the thick green grass from wearing away.
It was a fitting end to an unusual day, watching people coming and going as the sun dipped beyond the Washington Monument. The best bit may have been the chance to sit sipping beer on the National Mall, reflecting on the mish-mash of Americana, politics, and power all around.
One worker voiced general frustration at the lack of a coherent itinerary: “We have no idea what is happening from one moment to the next.”
Not a bad tribute to 250 years of revolutionary history.
PM-in-waiting is all manners now the backstabbing is done
You can imagine the intention. Andy Burnham is poised to become Britain’s next prime minister, so who better to invite to the U.S. Embassy’s 250th birthday bash in London?
Just one problem. He turned down the invitation, citing a vague, unspecified scheduling clash, according to Politico.
The summer Fourth of July party is one of the city’s best jamborees.
But it all suggests that Ambassador Warren Stephens still has a lot to learn about British politics and etiquette.
Burnham may have wielded the knife against Sir Keir Starmer, his party leader and prime minister, by running for Parliament and not exactly discouraging his supporters from chatter that he would be a far more effective national leader. Starmer has announced his resignation, and now it is only a matter of time before the outgoing mayor of Manchester has the job.
It is one thing to stab your boss in the back. But it would be simply premature to act like prime minister by hobnobbing with diplomats and ministers at the palatial U.S. residence.
How unseemly.
Lunchtime reading
Trumpworld ‘obviously’ feeling buyer’s remorse over Amy Coney Barrett: Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on mail-in ballots reignited frustrations within Trump’s coalition regarding Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who has ruled against the president on multiple high-profile cases.
Axel Springer set to complete Telegraph takeover: The British are coming. German media company plans to use the Telegraph to build a platform that can challenge the Financial Times around the world and find a center-right audience in the U.S.
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