What did Donald Trump do today?
He self-soothed on social media, telling himself he was popular and everyone liked his "State Fair" debacle.
Trump was up early this morning, posting to social media as he does most of the day, most days. Some of his posts concerned serious matters of state: for example, he insisted in all caps that "IRAN HAS REQUESTED A MEETING" and that it would "TAKE PLACE TOMORROW IN DOHA." Iran says that no such meeting was asked for and none is taking place: "We will not have any negotiation meetings at any level with the American side in the coming days."
Other posts dealt with the Supreme Court rulings, in particular ones he lost. He complained bitterly about a ruling saying that ballots mailed on or before Election Day must be counted in elections. (That's not a typo; that's his actual stance.) And he insisted that a ruling that he couldn't fire a member of the Federal Reserve Board for no reason didn't really mean what it said. (Trump is trying to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook so that he can replace her himself and appoint someone who will vote for lower interest rates. That would make the present high-inflation environment much worse, but Trump would stand to make hundreds of millions or billions of dollars from bond investments and mortgage refinancing on his properties.)
He neglected to mention one other loss he suffered today, when the Supreme Court denied his final appeal of the $5 million verdict against him for defamation. A jury found that Trump lied and defamed Carroll by falsely denying that he had raped her.
But the main theme was emotional self-care. He posted that he was getting his "Highest Poll Numbers Ever." He's been insisting frequently in recent days that his "REAL POLL NUMBERS" are higher than they've ever been. Trump has a long history of declaring how universally beloved he imagines himself to be, particularly when his polls are at their worst, and the present climate is no exception. He's matched or beaten his all-time low in approval polls taken in the past week.
He also found a new crowd size to worry about. In a post at 6:27 AM, he asked this surprisingly plaintive question:
Do you think people appreciate what a fantastic job we did in building and operating the Great American State Fair at the National Mall, packed with happy people, and everybody loving it?Trump has been reeling from a series of embarrassments over his "Great American State Fair." It started with virtually all of its musical acts cancelling after learning that they'd been hired for a partisan political event run by the pro-Trump "Freedom 250" organization, rather than an official (and politically neutral) "America 250" event. (And one of the few remaining acts, 90s novelty rap act Vanilla Ice, was rained out.)
But more recently, the GASF has attracted attention for the lack of attention it's getting. It fills up most of the National Mall, which on summer days is normally packed with tourists taking in the Capitol, the Smithsonian museums, and the various monuments. But there has been an uncanny absence of people during the GASF's run. That's been driven in part by Trump's unpopularity, in part by the lack of entertainment, and in part by the incredibly slapdash and underwhelming attractions.
There is a single Ferris wheel. There are food stands marked with pictures of food that isn't being sold there. There are tiny booths meant to showcase each state, but some are empty and some are just odd. There is a plywood and vinyl-sticker replica of the arch Trump wants to build, which is deteriorating in the rain and propped up level by scrap wood. And most of all, there is a lot of green space.
TMZ DC with perhaps the most brutal video from Trump's Great American State Fair, showing Dr. Oz on stage bragging to Dean Cain about how big the crowd is, only for the reporter to pan around and show absolutely nobody is there. Original post: x.com/i/status/207...
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona.bsky.social) June 29, 2026 at 4:39 PM
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Did the rapture happen overnight? Fox & Friends is broadcasting from a completely empty Trump state fair on the National Mall
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 29, 2026 at 7:27 AM
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Peter Doocy claims "people are still coming out" to Trump's 250th fair -- even as the camera shot shows clearly behind him that almost nobody is there 😆
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 28, 2026 at 10:38 AM
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Don’t have to worry about fighting crowds at the Great American State Fair in D.C. One fair attendee comments: “I’ve seen bigger crowds in the waiting room for a colonoscopy”
— Gwyllm Llwydd (@gwyllm.bsky.social) June 27, 2026 at 5:08 PM
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Why does this matter?
- Presidents are allowed to have emotional needs, but there is such a thing as being too emotionally unstable for the job.