Today is American Independence Day, a milestone in it being the 250th or semiquincentennial one, which I read is Latin for half of five hundred, which, like half of anything like half-baked or half-assed, makes it sound less impressive. It is a day when people are urged to put aside their differences and come together in patriotic unity.

Well, forget that.

I am a critic of the concept of patriotism and it takes some nerve for Trump and his cult to call for bipartisan unity when Trump hijacked the original bipartisan plans (as Jenora Feuer pointed out) and created his own celebration committee to make it all about himself. So it had long stopped being a national celebration and had become a Trump vanity project so it is hardly surprising that there is a lot of schadenfreude about how things have fallen apart bigly.

The big news is how an event that should have had massive crowds seems to have attracted tinier audiences than small local county fairs, with one band playing to audiences that were smaller than the band size. In fact, there seemed to be fewer people on the Mall than there usually are on any summer day.

“The Mall in the summer is a big tourist destination,” Democratic Rep. Sean Casten of Illinois wrote on X, resharing video of the performance. “Tourists, locals on their lunch break, people tossing frisbees, etc. A strong case can be made that there are FEWER people here than there would be but for Trump’s Tacky Craptacular.”

Trump gave a speech on the opening day to to replace the music concert that got canceled when the performers pulled out. He spoke at night and apparently could not see how few people there were and that many were leaving as he spoke. For Trump, crowd size is everything and he was apparently livid the next day when he saw aerial photographs showing the sparse crowd and he ordered those photos removed from the government websites, and that officials should say that 45,000 people were there.

In fact, it is quite astonishing how bad the organization of this event has been. State fairs are routinely held around the year in many parts of the country and people know how to create ones that draw crowds and how to take care of them. They also know that July is in the middle of summer and thus have contingencies to deal with the heat, so that the fairs stay open while offering relief to attendees. I am pretty sure that the original organizing committee would have had people who were knowledgeable about these things. But the Trump people, clueless and arrogant as they are, seemed to have cobbled together features, a broken Ferris wheel, empty booths, few food options and those also highly overpriced, power failures causing ice cream to melt, pieces falling from the roof of the main stage, the arch falling apart, with few tents or other shelters to escape from the heat or rain storms, or even seating for people to rest and eat. This became starkly apparent when yesterday, the few people who were there were abruptly told to leave at 1:00pm because the event was closed due to the heat and that they could come back at 5:00pm. This made no sense since the temperature at 5:00pm was still close to 100F. Suspicions are that the event was closed because of embarrassment over the visuals of small crowds.

The National Mall is a huge open space with no shelter and the surrounding areas have almost no cafes and restaurants or other public places to take refuge. So when people are asked to leave, where are they to go? Those who have come from a distance cannot go home and get back. Are they expected to sit in their cars with the air-conditioning on? But that is out of the question since there are no designated parking areas near the site and today the roads are being closed around the area so people have to use public transport.

Then today the big parade was also canceled because of the heat. The opening of the fair was also pushed back from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. This evening is the big event with a fireworks display that is, in typical Trump style, more about size than taste and style which, as Dunc commented, is an ominous sign. It has been pushed to late at night around 10:30pm when it is cooler but Trump has promised to make a long speech as well, beginning at around 9:45pm. How does that make any sense? People will be restless during his speech, waiting for him to end so that the fireworks can begin. And because he is going to be there, security will be tighter with longer lines and visitors can take fewer things with them.

The list of prohibited items is longer this year, partly due to the fact Trump will be delivering a speech at the event. All guests will also have to pass through security magnetometers before entering.

There is a strict clear bag policy this year, according to Freedom 250, meaning attendees are permitted one clear bag not exceeding 12-by-6-by-12 inches or one small clutch no larger than 10-by-6-by-2 inches.

The full list of prohibited items states pets other than service or guide animals, balloons, aerosols (including bug spray and sunscreen), bikes, coolers, camping and folding chairs, balls and Frisbees, drink tumblers, vapes, lighters and more are not permitted into the event. Blankets and strollers are allowed.

No on-site storage will be available and any items surrendered at security checkpoints will be thrown out or destroyed.

The best thing Trump could have done to improve the experience is cancel his own appearance. But of course he will not do that. For him, this is all about his vanity and he does not care how much it inconveniences people.

Meanwhile, yesterday was the wedding at Madison Square Garden of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce which drew huge crowds. Maybe the Trump fair organizers should have offered the couple to host that wedding to take place today on the Mall. The crowds would have been huge. But Trump has attacked Swift for endorsing Democrats and so that idea would have been a non-starter.