Great American State Fair opens on the National Mall amid walkouts

cultureJun 26, 2026415,482

The Great American State Fair opened on the National Mall on June 24, 2026, with former President Donald Trump delivering a kickoff speech. Trump told the crowd the event was "fantastic" and that at least 45,000 people attended; independent estimates and on-site observers put the turnout much lower, closer to 1,000. Video and eyewitness accounts show streams of attendees leaving during Trump’s opening remarks, and reporters noted a visible exodus from the plaza. Organizers reported light daytime crowds on the fair’s first full day, June 25, with wide stretches of empty grass across the site. Several states and multiple musicians withdrew exhibits or performances over political concerns, while Ohio still fielded a presence with giveaways and its governor in attendance. The weak turnout and performer pullouts complicate the fair’s planned 16-day run and could force organizers to alter programming for upcoming events, including the scheduled July 4 activities.

Hoodlum 🇺🇸

@nothoodlum.bsky.social

The lines are insane to get into Trump’s State Fair.

14945h ago

Allyship58

And we’re still believing 77 million people voted for him?

Viva Cascadia!52

The Craigslist ad offering to pay for attendees must not have posted

Flemming Erik Carlson45

It looks as busy as his birthday 😂military parade.

Jay Lee32

Looks like the event of all times! 😂

Chris F., CREATURE 👾27

Which line is for the Vanilla Ice tickets?

ArizonaTerry.bsky.social24

When he wakes up, he’s gonna be pissed

Quoting this

Sande4

I'm sure everybody who's anybody will be there 😂

🧡🐕🧡ISLAtheMightyToyFoxTerrier 💛💙🌻🇺🇦🌻💙💛 📎📎2

It's not a State Fair since DC isn't a state.

Cirenzi2

Not pictured: Vanilla Ice setting up, Lee Greenwood warming up, and the 5,000,000 people Donald Trump will later remember cheering, just out of frame.

🌊🧩Perpetua🪭☔️2

We want to celebrate w/ Knicks in NYC, OUR COUNTRY's 250! Celebrate EVERYWHERE, but not in the WRECK ¡Q45's made of DC‼️ In CHI at the #ObamaPresidentialCenter We DON'T celebrate a self-aggrandizing Pedo RAPISTPREDATOR who stole the office via KKKetamine Crazed SpaceNazi. Will he try it again? F U.

Sandy2

The cult is tiring of the act

Alt National Park Service

@altnps.bsky.social

Trump falsely claimed in a post online that at least 45,000 people attended his speech on the National Mall last night. That figure isn’t supported by any available reports or the images from the event.

137910h ago

Alt National Park Service452

The crowd size was much smaller and estimates from people on the ground placed attendance at roughly 5,000–7,000 people.

Name Withheld40

Can we stop using the words “falsely claim”? These are lies. Full stop.

Nomad40

That is not 45,000 people

@KeepItBlueDems.bsky.social36

We watched a massive exodus online of those who attended. They left early while Trump was still giving his lying, boring, repeat speech.

Marvelous Max27

4 to 5 thousand. 3000 were selling merchandise.

decib.bsky.social24

Wait he gave a speech on the mall?

Quoting this

Peggi2

🙄 replies👏 (Some poor sap: “Sir, we said four- to five-thousand people attended your speech.” DJT: “Forty-five thousand? That’s the best there ever was.” Narrator: more like 8647;)

Robert Reich

@rbreich.bsky.social

Who is paying for Trumps MAGA-fied Freedom 250 festivities, like the so-called "Great American State Fair"? Trump is using taxpayer dollars to spread the MAGA agenda while granting private donors presidential access — all under the guise of celebrating America’s 250th birthday. Watch.

66013h ago

CC Hopes ❌️👑9

The Grifter-In-Chief strikes again… and again… and again. It just never ends with this morally bankrupt, corrupt-to-the-core, lying, cheating, thieving megalomaniac.

Crying for my country6

He’s stolen the money for America 250 and transferred the money to his Freedom 250 party. He’s looting the treasury.

purplegnu.bsky.social5

Psst: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." Declaration of Independence.

jacques124.bsky.social4

So he's a crook. We knew that. How do we get the Congress to do something about that?

Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.3

I suspect he’s charging at least 1M to grant private donors presidential access. He would never give it away for free. This is not celebrating America. It’s enriching him, his family, and his cronies at taxpayer expense.

MrMars3

There ought to be a law. Oh, there is.

Aaron Rupar

@atrupar.com

Trump to his dismally small crowd in DC last night: "On July 4, we will have the greatest show of all on the National Mall. Your president will be speaking, so please show up. Because if we have 2 empty seats, you know what's gonna happen. The fake news is gonna say, 'He didn't fill out the arena.'"

80511h ago

bogwash139

Dangerously close to a "please clap" after his walkouts yesterday.

EARNED MY SPURS & UNABLE TO CURB MY CUSSING 🐎51

🎵 Paranoia strikes deep Into your mind it will creep 🎵

The Frankenmuppet🇨🇦39

The man who constantly criticizes everyone on their ratings doesn't like it when his own ratings get commented on No wonder his hands are bruised, his skin is so thin even shaking hands hurt him 😂

Mike Bloom23

Doesn't sound desperate at all

Renée the Fucking Bitch Witch ✨️ 🇺🇦 ♿️ 🖇19

People point it our because it bothers trump. Maybe if he didn't act like a stupid spoiled arrogant prick, people wouldn't report on his smol beans.

William F. Tulloch16

I live in DC. Going to the Mall for July 4th fireworks is a rite of passage. I don't know anyone planning on going this year.

Quoting this

Ian Miles Schlong19

We’ve reached the “Please Clap” era of the Trump Pedophile Presidency

@GottaLaff16

"Please show up." Trump is begging people to come to his rally.

CavsKermit 11

Remember when anti-Trump folks reserved a whole bunch of seats online during one of his Covid rallies, never attended, and he got really, really mad at the organizers?

Steve Kenson ❌👑8

This July 4th, for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, America will be witness to the greatest obsession with crowd size Donald Trump has ever displayed. Feel free to take a pass and miss it.

Vote Doug Jones 4 AL5

Note to self: Making fun of his crowd sizes in fact bothers him. Like calling him “felon.”

John Bolton's Mustache4

Please like me. Please clap. Low T

One Who Walks Among the Dead2

LoL, he's gonna die of sadness.

John Sibley2

Sorry, I’m waxing my skis that day.

am-mccarthy.bsky.social2

Announcing that he can't draw big crowds anymore, is definitely a way to go.

ResistDoc2

He's literally begging. And I'm here for it. Welcome to the fuking club, asshole.

LA Blue Dot in GA 🌊🐸

@namwella1961.bsky.social

Raw Story: Political analysts ridiculed Trump's state fair after it was announced that FBI Director Kash Patel's girlfriend was tapped to perform. Alexis Wilkins announced she will be a "featured performer" at the June 24 kick-off rally to the Great American State Fair. #ProudBlue #Pinks #SheShed

247Yesterday

coloradotransplant.bsky.social9

Has anyone ever actually heard this person sing? I mean, should Lara Trump be worried about the competition?

Container Gardener5

How much are they paying her to Perform? I’m sure she’s probably flying in on the FBI jet taxpayer expense.

📎Wicked Lizzie🐸2

Kid Rock must be furious! 🤣🤣

Penne1

Which stall can we find her performing in?

D. W. Bassett1

Is she any better than Gums’ wife? Just asking.

Khashoggi's Ghost

@urocklive1.bsky.social

The only time I've ever seen a state fair look even close to this was on the day before it started.

1824h ago

LisaTheLiberal 🦋3

I live in the Seattle area and this morning a local radio station was running ads for people to buy tickets and make travel arrangements to DC... wonder how much taxpayer dollars was spent on that too...

Crista2

This regime doesn’t need crowds; they're doing everything possible to control the midterms so they can stay in power, much like how they won the 2024 election, only more aggressively. Democrats must impeach him now.

EARNED MY SPURS & UNABLE TO CURB MY CUSSING 🐎2

No one's getting there early to get the good seats

junglebungalow.bsky.social1

The orange turd has lost its luster.

Rex Huppke

@rexhuppke.bsky.social

So Trump is spitting mad at Republicans who won't pass his election-rigging SAVE Act, he just kneecapped their housing affordability celebration AND he's doing a "rally" on the National Mall tonight to launch his derpy Great American State Fair. I'm sure that will be fun, calm and perfect.

121Yesterday

Gerry Doyle5

it's not even a kneecapping--it will pass automatically without his signature

Lamebananna🏳️‍🌈💙🍌1

I mean what could possibly go wrong?🍌

Molly Ploofkins

@mollyploofkins.bsky.social

10s of people attend Trump's Great American State Fair on the National Mall

715h ago

DemocracyEnjoyer8

Lol and it looks like 100% of them just wanted to get into the shade!

Wes Walser2

If the stupid ass arch is ever actually built I hope a meteor falls out of the sky and destroys it.

EARNED MY SPURS & UNABLE TO CURB MY CUSSING 🐎2

Providing shade would be the only possible good thing about that stupid planned arch of his.

🇨🇦 CATNAP 😼1

They are strangely on the dark side of things. Vandalized the damn Sun.

🌻Gabs🌻 🇺🇲🇲🇽🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🇺🇦 🇬🇱1

The idiot wants to bring Paris to DC for the carni loving people to enjoy..

Brad Heath

@bradheath.bsky.social

Days before the National Mall will host U.S. 250th anniversary celebrations, the Reflecting Pool has become the latest symbol of Trump’s Washington: a test of his attempts to bend reality in his favor and command law enforcement to his personal whims. www.reuters.com/world/us/ref...

699h ago

Professor Furious2

The deflecting pool debacle couldn't be a more apt symbol of this gangster administration. Colossal grift and inept vandalism to gratify a declining dementia patient. The other writers would laugh you out of the room for pitching so obvious a metaphor to illustrate this cretinous 'government'.

California Tech Guy1

It just makes me remember the Antifa UBoats attacking the Trump flotilla.

Bill Beaird1

No it’s not! He’s destroying everything symbolically good about America and thumbing his nose at us all. Just look around, he even told us what he was going to do!

Sanho Tree

@sanho.bsky.social

There’s even a Ferris wheel on the Mall for “The Great American State Fair.” Everything is behind fencing right now and there are hundreds of National Guard walking around doing nothing.

78Yesterday

Sanho Tree129

Protesters are out exercising their First Amendment rights while they still exist.

Donie O’Sullivan

@donie.bsky.social

Trump kicked off The Great American State Fair in Washington DC tonight with what he promised would be "the rally to end all rallies." Feat. special performance by Kash Patel's girlfriend.

52Yesterday

Jim of Pennsyltucky5

The Marine Band played YMCA. From the halls of Montezuma to the gay bars of DC.

El Topo 🍁2

It's pretty hilarious that he should hold this event on the one spot in the American mainland that is *not* in a state. There's a certain message in that.

dbergstr.bsky.social2

Looks like tens of people in attendance

Miss Flangerhanger1

Oh my. What a crowd. Fake arches and fake gold eagles. That says it all.

Quoting this

Serendipity2

So the artists that pulled out were right it is a political rally its was only for Trump's MAGA people. Those red hats and trump shirts is not very inviting.

❀𝕀𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕪𝕞𝕒𝕞𝕒❀

@irmaspikeymama.bsky.social

Positive Shoutout to Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, for being among the States who are NOT sending Representatives to Trump's "Great American State Fair", that starts tomorrow. Way To Go!!! F Him!!!

25Yesterday

Kathy Mortensen 🏳️‍🌈🇺🇦🇺🇸 💙2

Way to go. Sadly my state is

MickeyBuntz Estes1

REALLY pandering to the Rubes. Wow. I wonder if Rubio will try to catch the greased Piglet

Auntie Bitter1

Not too much to celebrate. We'll celebrate when he dies or goes to jail.😁😉

AlyceMiller1

I can’t believe California is participating. I’m guessing maybe New York will, too?

Jason Rabinowitz

@airlineflyer.net

2-3 hour delays at DCA today due to "Great American State Fair" air show. That's fun because the thing doesn't even start until tomorrow. Maybe just don't even attempt to fly through DCA until this stupid thing ends.

25Yesterday

Alex Fitzpatrick2

The Great American Ground Delay

Zach D Roberts

@zdroberts.bsky.social

Hey, I am here in Washington DC covering Trump’s great American state fair that launches tonight. As a sidenote, how can Washington DC have a state fair? Subscribe to my newsletter for coverage wrapups and longer interviews. Visunews.substack.com Going to try and keep a thread here.

24Yesterday