After Donald Trump watched fans walk out of the opening rally at his Great American State Fair on the Washington Mall, things have not gotten much better.

According to Washington Post reporting, the 16-day National Mall celebration got off to an inauspicious start Thursday, with organizers struggling to open gates on time and workers "scrambling to hide construction debris."

The problems cascaded throughout the day. Thirty minutes after the scheduled opening, small crowds still waited outside security checkpoints as organizers battled power failures. Once admitted, fairgoers encountered a panoply of operational and electrical chaos.

According to the report, the food court promised patriotic fare but electrical issues repeatedly shut down operations, threatening to eliminate ice cream supplies on a sweltering early-summer day.

Adding to that, the centerpiece Ferris wheel offering free rides with views of the mall, operated only "intermittently due to a faulty generator," with workers acknowledging the ride's unreliability as frustrated fairgoers waited in line.....

Fair goers were able to see a calf named "Melania" — shipped in from West Virginia — with the owner, Piper Stolipher, 15, explaining to the Post, "We were trying to come up with patriotic names for the 250th year, and we came up with Melania, which is President Trump’s wife and my teacher thought that they had a similar hair color, so it just fit.”

Frustratingly for some attendees, eight states, mostly led by Democratic governors, refused to participate, citing prohibitive exhibition costs, with the Post reporting, "Pavilions without representation from their own state were left with a stock format: Two low-slung chairs, a composition of images representing the state and maybe a fake plant. Visitors took to sheltering in these less-occupied stations for a shaded lunch."

When Trump headlined his own event last week to kick off the festivities, turnout was abysmal, and many attendees were seen leaving in the middle of the president’s campaign-style speech.

In the days that followed, the troubles intensified. NOTUS reported:

The 110-foot-tall Ferris wheel, a main attraction at the Great American State Fair for the country’s 250th anniversary, shut down for a couple of hours due to lack of power. The ice cream melted, but Iowa’s butter cow survived. And a display of the Confederate flag was removed from North Carolina’s booth after Gov. Josh Stein condemned the vendor for putting it up.[/blockquote]

The same report referred to “power outages” and “almost-empty or understaffed booths” before adding, “Rodeos and baby farm animals drew crowds but the fair appeared sparsely attended; there were no lines to get in, the lawn was fairly void of people and entertainers outnumbered guests at points.”

....Fox News has done its part to try to promote the gathering, even broadcasting live from the fair, but that apparently hasn’t helped. It’s easy to see the absence of attendees behind the on-air hosts and guests.

Every Fox News live shot today from Trump's post-rapture-like fair on the National Mall has been hilarious. Here's a supercut:

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2026-06-29T21:12:57.959Z

And did I mention that the event features a poorly made replica of the “triumphal” arch that Trump is so excited about? Because that’s an issue, too.

Everyone is talking about Trump’s mock up arch at the Great American State Fair, so I filmed it from top to bottom and front to back for everyone who can’t see it in person.

— amanda moore 🐢 (@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social) 2026-06-28T21:11:48.282Z

.....But it’s not quite that simple. For one thing, he’s the one who helped turned the event into a partisan affair. For another, he’s also the one urging people to “appreciate” his failure.