Upon walking through an entrance of a mock-up model of Donald Trump’s proposed United States Triumphal Arch, a visitor could plainly see it was already falling apart. The miniature triumphal arch at the Great America State Fair, which took place June 25 through July 10, offered a sorry attempt at grandiosity. Looking more like an oversize board game token than a scaled-down future national monument, the arch looked more than a little clunky, painted a dull gray and showing its panel seams inelegantly. The gold eagles and Statue of Liberty reproduction at the top looked flimsy, and the main mass was adorned only with a few glue-on wreaths, decorative panels, and four bulky protuberances.

On the 250th birthday of the United States of America, the awkward portal opened to a hastily devised vanity fair whose exhibits on states, territories, and big businesses were pumped up by flags, empty slogans, and depictions of famous residents while providing hardly any flavor of who calls the nation home today. The Great America State Fair offered the viewpoint of a presidency not interested in Americans but just a shambolic performance of imperial unity through cheap, largely meaningless attractions. The United States Triumphal Arch, unironically pitched by Trump as a monument to military victories amid the US’s failure to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, is a much more expensive and enduring version of the same vapid commemorative spirit.