Aerospace industry’s oversized presence at President Trump's Great American State Fair

Special Freedom 250 post

Air Force Thunderbirds roar over the US Capitol, National Mall and President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair (July 2, 2026). Photo: Matt Laslo

WASHINGTON — The mainstream media has been transfixed on the sparse attendance at President Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair on the National Mall* this week, but the bigger story is the untold tens of millions of dollars corporations ponied up to get a seat at the head table.

*Laslo included (see: “Scorching heat and empty baptism pools: Inside Trump’s deserted American State Fair”) as he covers what his wire service, The LCB, clients want him to…

Everywhere you look at the event that stretches some 10 city blocks along the National Mall, you see a corporate logo.

It’s America, so what?

What particularly caught our eye are all the aerospace companies paying large (if mostly undisclosed) sums of money to show their support for the President as contractors jockey for a limited number of federal space contracts.

Of course, there are all the usual suspects, including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and GE Aerospace.

The military-industrial aerospace complex is alive and well at the Great American State Fair in Washington, DC. Photos: Matt Laslo

But there are also new money millionaires — and “trillionaire,” on paper at least… — showcasing their aerospace acumen throughout the 16-day long event.

Of course, there’s Elon Musk’s SpaceX. But sponsors also include other next-gen space companies, like commercial space station construction company Axiom Space or artificial intelligence-fueled aerospace manufacturing consultants SAP.

War Department exhibit at the Great American State Fair on the National Mall. Photo: Matt Laslo

At the very least, space seems to be en vogue in the nation’s capital these days, especially at the Department of War’s busy exhibit.

President Trump’s Space Force makes their pitch to visitors in their air-conditioned exhibit at Freedom 250 in Washington, DC. Photo: Matt Laslo

Of course, the military-industrial complex is selling the President — and the nation through him — on more than just aerospace, like the Army’s new AI-powered robotic dog, fighter jets, B-2 bombers, real K-9 soldiers, more fighter jets, next-gen aircraft carriers, etc.

While there are lots of innovative bells and amazing American whistles on display, just underneath the surface there’s a dangerous commingling of the billionaire and political classes.

As friend of Ask a Pol, NOTUS editor Dave Levinthal, wrote this week:

“During a three-hour fairgrounds tour, NOTUS spotted the presence of dozens of corporations and special interest groups representing a who’s who of influence peddlers, many with serious money behind their lobbying efforts.

“These companies and organizations collectively spent more than $152 million in 2025 on formal efforts to lobby the U.S. federal government, according to a NOTUS analysis of federal lobbying disclosure records and data compiled by nonpartisan research organization OpenSecrets.

“Their executives and political action committees have meanwhile donated many millions of dollars more this decade to political candidates’ campaigns, national party committees and super PACs…”

Continue reading: Big Lobbying Spenders Are Going All Out at the Great American State Fair

By Dave Levinthal,* NOTUS

*Laslo’s former editor; one of the best money & politics journalists in DC.

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BONUS: Cool documentary alert!*

*gets a tad Reality TV for me — needless drama heaped on actual drama — but overall it’s an intimate look inside America’s elite Thunderbird program.

Like, did you know pilot’s are only in the elite squadron two years and each year half the team is replaced? So each year, half the squadron are freshmen.

- Prof Laslo