{"id":884,"date":"2026-07-11T12:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T12:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884"},"modified":"2026-07-11T12:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T12:05:58","slug":"the-great-american-state-flop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884","title":{"rendered":"The Great American State Flop"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

In the middle of the Great American State Fair, fifty yards or so from a scaled-down model of the triumphal arch that President Donald Trump is threatening to build (it reminded some visitors of the botched, runty Stonehenge in \u201cThis Is Spinal Tap\u201d), sat a booth not for a state but for a federal district\u2014Washington, D.C. The booth was similar to the others that occupied the National Mall for the sixteen-day event. Two walls had boards on which visitors could write their names or draw pictures; one had maps, inviting people to stick a pin to show where they were from. In two corners were lists of fast facts. Who knew that go-go, a percussion-heavy funk subgenre, is Washington\u2019s official music? In another corner stood a plastic Yoshino cherry tree\u2014the variety that lines the Tidal Basin\u2014which people were encouraged to festoon with uplifting messages written on what looked like price tags. Holding down the booth was a team from Destination DC, the District\u2019s tourism arm; the aim, a statement said, was to show \u201cthe culture of Washingtonians who live, work and thrive in our city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more British Grammar Invades the American World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m enjoying myself,\u201d Romeo Guerrero, a retiree from St. Cloud, Florida, said. He was visiting, with his wife, for the first time. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful city. People are very kind. If you listen to the news, it feels like it\u2019s militarized. It\u2019s not. Everybody\u2019s helpful. There\u2019s a lot of food.\u201d The Guerreros had gone to the fair\u2019s opening ceremony to hear the President, whose rally-style speech substituted for the slew of musical artists who had backed out after learning of the event\u2019s partisan origins.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

For all the politics involved in the fair\u2019s conception, and all the tumult between the District and the President since his reascension, the vibe was mostly apolitical. The D.C. booth contained no reference to the compromise between Northern and Southern states that led to the city\u2019s creation, in 1790, and no mention of the Home Rule Act, which allowed D.C. limited self-governance fifty-three years ago. The only nod to the National Guard troops that Trump deployed in the capital last year were the troops themselves, stationed around the fair.<\/p>\n

Jim Grossman, a former executive director of the American Historical Association, wandered in. \u201cSo far, it meets my low expectations,\u201d he said. He attributed those not to the D.C. booth\u2019s staff but to the fair\u2019s Trump-affiliated organizers. He had some notes on how the booth could have been improved: \u201cBetter representation of the District\u2019s diversity, and a better representation of disenfranchisement, which is part of the District\u2019s identity. There\u2019s no indication of taxation without representation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary S. Templeton, a retired nurse who has lived in D.C. since 1968, was \u201cdelighted\u201d with the fair, but said that the District\u2019s fight for statehood \u201cshould be emphasized everywhere.\u201d Her husband chimed in: \u201cOur population is greater than two states\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n

But Washingtonians were not the fair\u2019s target audience; airing the statehood grievance could have risked inviting even more micromanaging from an Administration that has already tried to take over some of the District\u2019s most beloved cultural institutions. A federal employee who didn\u2019t want to be identified noted, of the fair\u2019s booths, \u201cYou can see that you\u2019re only allowed to say certain things, show certain things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Can Office-to-Residential Conversions Survive the Pfizer-Building Crisis?<\/a><\/p>\n

Mike Hopkins, a local wearing a cap with D.C.\u2019s flag, lamented the political messaging he had seen in many booths: \u201cThat\u2019s a turnoff for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The D.C. booth featured a District-themed trivia wheel, with questions specific to each of the capital\u2019s eight wards. (\u201cLincoln!\u201d a visitor yelped, attempting to answer the question of which Ward 2 neighborhood, likely named after King George II and not the first President, is the oldest in D.C.) The prizes contained subtle references to the District\u2019s long fight; winners got pins emblazoned with the logo for the statehood campaign (a cutout of the District and a big \u201c51\u201d), or key chains marked \u201cstatehood.dc.gov.\u201d A few of the questions hinted at the struggle, too. One father-and-son pair looked flummoxed when presented with the question \u201cHow many votes does D.C. have in Congress?\u201d<\/p>\n

By the afternoon, the booth\u2019s coloring wall was filled with names and comments, praise for and derision of the President scribbled side by side. A message reading \u201cTrump 2028 2032 2036 2040\u201d was crossed out and annotated with the word \u201cBoooo.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\u201cThe grass is great,\u201d the federal employee said. \u201cBut I feel sorry for the people who travelled.\u201d She\u2019d found most of the booths superficial, lacking in historical context. \u201cThis whole thing is very indicative of what we\u2019re living in right now,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a show that has nothing inside it.\u201d\u00a0\u2666<\/p>\n

Read more Our Plastic-Surgery Nightmare<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Was Donald Trump\u2019s fair for the country\u2019s two-hundred-and-fiftieth more funeral than party? Swing by the Washington, D.C., booth to find out. Andrew Trunsky reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-c-postcard"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Great American State Flop - City Relocation News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Great American State Flop - City Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Was Donald Trump\u2019s fair for the country\u2019s two-hundred-and-fiftieth more funeral than party? Swing by the Washington, D.C., booth to find out. Andrew Trunsky reports.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"City Relocation News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T12:05:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4\"},\"headline\":\"The Great American State Flop\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T12:05:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884\"},\"wordCount\":832,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9c010e6c42ea334ba63fec55ac7ab230.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"D.C. Postcard\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884\",\"name\":\"The Great American State Flop - City Relocation News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9c010e6c42ea334ba63fec55ac7ab230.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T12:05:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9c010e6c42ea334ba63fec55ac7ab230.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/9c010e6c42ea334ba63fec55ac7ab230.webp\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?p=884#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Great American State Flop\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"City Relocation News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cityrelocationnews.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Great American State Flop - City Relocation News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Great American State Flop - City Relocation News","og_description":"Was Donald Trump\u2019s fair for the country\u2019s two-hundred-and-fiftieth more funeral than party? Swing by the Washington, D.C., booth to find out. Andrew Trunsky reports.","og_url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884","og_site_name":"City Relocation News","article_published_time":"2026-07-11T12:05:58+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4"},"headline":"The Great American State Flop","datePublished":"2026-07-11T12:05:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884"},"wordCount":832,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9c010e6c42ea334ba63fec55ac7ab230.webp","articleSection":["D.C. Postcard"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884","url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884","name":"The Great American State Flop - City Relocation News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9c010e6c42ea334ba63fec55ac7ab230.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-11T12:05:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9c010e6c42ea334ba63fec55ac7ab230.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/9c010e6c42ea334ba63fec55ac7ab230.webp","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?p=884#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Great American State Flop"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/","name":"City Relocation News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/3e7ce0c0c60d21e12a5ac61fb2b786d4","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cityrelocationnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}