On the first day of the Great American State Fair on Washington’s National Mall, there were no butter sculptures, blue-ribbon livestock or prize-winning rutabaga pies to admire.But visitors could take in a gleaming portrait of US president Donald Trump, pick up a handbill promoting Turning Point USA and hear a speaker read a poem declaring every teen to be “a conscript in a spiritual world war”.The 16-day event that started Thursday was organised by Freedom 250, a Trump-backed group that has been involved in a quiet tug of war with America 250, a bipartisan group charged by US Congress with co-ordinating the nation’s 250th birthday. The fair consists of exhibits and pavilions conceived to represent every US state and territory, along with Cabinet departments. People attending the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Photograph: Alex Wroblewski/AFP via Getty Images At least 11 states declined to take part officially, many of them citing budget concerns and were replaced by smaller groups Freedom 250 selected to fill the gap.Overall, many of the offerings amounted to an apolitical hodgepodge of history and Americana. Visitors could see a talking hologram of Abraham Lincoln (Illinois) and a Nascar stock car (North Carolina). A display about Georgia promoted state icons, including vidalia onions and Waffle House. But throughout the grounds, there were more than a few hints of a more conservative union.Visitors ride the Freedom 250 ferris wheel near the US Capitol. Photograph: Al Drago/Getty Images Visitors dress up as a founding father and sign a faux Declaration of Independence during the Great American State Fair in Washington. Photograph: Alex Kent/The New York Times