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

K Street — the traditional Washington lobbyists redoubt — runs a mile north of the National Mall.

But this week, K Street seems to stretch clear across the grassy expanse between the Washington Monument and the U.S. Capitol, which is hosting the Great American State Fair — the Trump-backed, MAGA-coded exposition celebrating the nation’s 250th birthday.

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.

Corporate messaging hits fast at the Great American State Fair: Fairgoers entering near the Smithsonian Metro station checkpoint are immediately greeted with a walled tent adorned with “America Innovates” banners. Inside, the air-conditioned tent had the feel of a trade show with no particularly unifying theme and certain foreign undertones.

Visitors to the tent first encounter an exhibit for SAP, a German multinational business software company that spent nearly $4 million last year through its U.S. subsidiary on federal-level lobbying. A large display features the corporate logos of a dozen companies — Visa, Xerox, IBM, Honeywell and Hershey, among others — under a statement in blue lettering: “America’s leading companies. Powered by SAP.”

TikTok’s exhibit is nearby.

“Buy small. Build big. Shop America,” urges a black placard. “Like what you see? It’s all on TikTok Shop,” reads a red sign in the shape of a price tag.

A display at the Great American State Fair. Dave Levinthal/NOTUS

TikTok was owned until earlier this year by Chinese company ByteDance, which retains a minority ownership stake in an American entity that now owns TikTok’s U.S. operations.

During the first three months of 2026, the new TikTok company spent $620,000 to lobby the federal government — on top of more than $8 million ByteDance spent in 2025.

SpaceX ($2.94 million in 2025 lobbying expenditures), Axiom Space ($570,000), and President Donald Trump’s social media platform Truth Social rounded out the tent, alongside an outfit that creates custom motorcycles.

In the separate “Made in America” tent a walk east down the National Mall, Micron ($3.94 million in 2025 lobbying spending), John Deere ($2.2 million), Biz2Credit ($200,000) each stood up booths or displays.

Outside, Chime Financial, which spent $1.72 million on federal lobbying last year, offered a free cell phone charging station — and information about its partnership with Trump Accounts, the government-backed investment program for families with newborns.

A table displaying information about TrumpAccounts.gov at the Great American State Fair. Lillian Bautista/NOTUS

Large video boards ring the national mall with sponsorship promotions from companies that together spent well into the eight-figure range annually on federal lobbying.

“Great American State Fair presented by Chevron.”

“Great America State Fair presented by ExxonMobil.”

Defense contractors Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and GE Aerospace also had their turns in the video board rotation.

So, too, did phosphate and potash mining company Mosaic ($1.31 million in 2025 lobbying) and agriculture and lawn products manufacturer ScottsMiracle-Gro ($670,000).

Anheuser-Busch, which has systematically sought to win back MAGA faithful after a financially disastrous Bud Light ad campaign in 2023, was just about everywhere at the Great American State Fair. Its suds were sold at concession stands and an “Anheuser-Busch Beer Car” was positioned near one of the fair’s music stages.

The logos of UnitedHeath, Uber, Visa and PepsiCo were also present, as was an installment by conservative, Christian educational institution Hillsdale College — it spent $140,000 last year lobbying the federal government.

Other Great American State Fair promotions by Washington lobbying forces are more subtle.

The small pavilion for Puerto Rico is awash in rum, with bottles of Bacardi — it spent about $500,000 on lobbying last year — and other brands beckoning from shelves that visitors aren’t allowed to touch.

In the Oklahoma pavilion, the National Basketball Association, NBC and Peacock logos are plastered to a pedestal topped by a gigantic Oklahoma City Thunder basketball. (NBC parent company Comcast spent nearly $12.9 million on federal lobbying in 2025.)

NOTUS contacted two dozen of the corporations and organizations with the most significant exhibits or displays at the Great American State Fair. Most did not respond to questions, including why they’re participating and how much money they paid to do so. Freedom 250, the Trump-backed nonprofit organization staging the fair, also did not respond to a request for comment.

Those that did respond offered only general statements.

SAP spokesperson Victoria Dixon said in an email that the company’s partnership with Freedom 250 and America250 — a separate, bipartisan organization — “reflect our long‑standing commitment to supporting innovation, economic strength, and workforce development in the communities where our customers, employees, and partners live and work.”

As for its financial arrangement with the Great American State Fair?

“We do not comment on sponsorship amounts, pricing, or contract terms associated with our sponsorships or partnerships,” Dixon said.

“As a proud American company, Chevron is pleased to support celebrations of 250 years of the country’s independence,” said Bill Turenne, spokesperson for the oil company that spent $8.26 million on lobbying last year.

“Axiom Space was invited to participate in the Great American State Fair and showcase our efforts to support the future of American space exploration,” the company said in a statement.

Exiger, a government contractor that provides AI-powered supply chain services, “participated because we are an American AI company and we love that the Freedom 250 team is championing innovation,” spokesperson Kody Gurfein told NOTUS. “We did this to be a part of the biggest celebration of innovation in the U.S. — a once-in-a-generation celebration of the people, technologies, and ideas shaping America’s future.”

Exiger spent $450,000 on federal lobbying in 2025, according to federal records.

In declining to comment, GE Aerospace pointed NOTUS to a promotional blog post and press release about its participation, including a display of the GE9X, an engine that will power the future Boeing 777X widebody jet.

Corporations that build goodwill with Trump at the Great American State Fair are “making entries into a favor bank that can be called on when needed,” said Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, a watchdog organization that tracks lobbying and political influence trends.

And while critics have panned the Great American State Fair for its small crowds and limited fun quotient, “the people who are continuing to say the emperor’s clothes are stylish will be rewarded,” Hauser said. “Sticking with him while the State Fair is being derided — that’s demonstrating loyalty.”