Amid the sparse attendance, empty spaces, and just two rides at President Donald Trump’s long-promised “Great American State Fair,” some attendees managed to make an interesting discovery.
But it likely won’t please the president.
While riding the Freedom 250 Ferris wheel, fairgoers spotted problems with the tacky plywood mock-up of Trump’s planned “triumphal arch.”
The mini arch, which online critics have compared to the undersized Stonehenge in This Is Spinal Tap!, is installed at the event to remind the public of another expensive vanity project—currently estimated at $100 million—that the president hopes will mark his legacy.
The actual arch, modeled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, would soar 250 feet if it is completed, making it nearly twice as high as the Lincoln Memorial and even taller than France’s iconic monument.
As for the mock-up: it appeared to be coming apart, with spectators telling The New York Times that the vinyl covering stretched over its wooden frame had already begun to wrinkle and separate.
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House and the Freedom 250 organization for comment.
Reports of the deteriorating arch come hard on the heels of the peeling paint and blooming algae in Trump’s $14 million renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which is currently fenced off and closed while the president attempts to undo the damage.
The arch would be another massive project. Building it would require crews to work 20 hours a day for two to three years using several cranes up to 320 feet tall, according to planning documents released by the Department of the Interior.
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), led by Trump-appointed members, still has some concerns about the project. The commission received nearly 2,000 comments from the public about the monument, “nearly all of them negative,” according to ABC News.
Critics have slammed the project as a massive, egocentric waste of money, while veterans groups have complained that its proximity to Arlington National Cemetery, where more than 400,000 veterans are buried, is sacrilegious. The huge monument would forever eradicate historic sightlines of iconic D.C landmarks and green space.
The disintegrating arch isn’t the only stumble in the flaw-plagued Great American State Fair. Troubles began in May, when nearly every popular performer booked for the event canceled because of its political nature.
‘90s rapper Vanilla Ice was one of the few people willing to go on with the show because, as he said, ahead because the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper said he didn’t care about politics.
“I’ll play in Iran if you want. It don’t matter,” said Ice, born Robert Van Winkle. “I don’t even vote, so I don’t even care.”
He was scheduled to perform Friday night, but his concert was canceled just two hours before he was set to take the stage due to the weather.
There was also a power outage on the first day of the fair, resulting in a Great American meltdown that stopped the Ferris wheel and turned fair ice cream into mush.
Despite the sparse attendance, Trump insisted that his appearance at the opening “rally” on Wednesday drew 45,000 people, a figure that wasn’t backed up by witness accounts or photographic evidence.
Overall, the Great American State Fair “isn’t very great,” according to The Atlantic.
