Coming down to the last couple of days of my Atlantic City Kickstarter campaign, I came to the conclusion that I’d cajoled and pestered everyone pretty much to the limit, and it was time to let this thing ride out on its own. So, rather than sit staring at the Kickstarter campaign pledge graph on my computer, I decided to make a drive down to Atlantic City to visit Levi Fox and his pop-up Trump museum.

The Trump Museum, Levi Fox (left) and Brian Rose (right)  — © Renee Schoonbeek

I knew about Fox from a couple of articles I’d found while researching Trump and Atlantic City, and I knew he was setting up his display in front of the now abandoned Trump Plaza on the boardwalk. It was a blisteringly hot Sunday in August, and everyone was heading to the shore. So, sitting in traffic to and from the beach actually consumed more of the day than the time I spent in Atlantic City.

I found Levi and his card table museum without any difficulty. A woman was talking to him and said that someone should take a pictures of all the former Trump casinos and say, this was Trump’s, and this one was once Trump’s. At that precise moment I stepped up and said, that’s what I’ve done, and I handed her a copy of my book dummy.

Levi Fox and Trump  bobblehead doll — © Brian Rose

Trump Taj Mahal bath towel — © Brian Rose

I introduced myself to Levi Fox, and he showed me the artifacts and tchotchkes that comprise his Trump museum. He carefully unwrapped a Trump bobblehead doll, and unfurled a Trump Taj Mahal bath towel and a bathrobe with a golden Trump logo. Levi is both museum director and carnival barker as he calls out to passersby to step right up and see his Trump objets d’art. Bigger than anything in his collection is the museum sign itself that says “The (Pop-Up) Atlantic City Trump Museum” on one side, and “The (Pop-Up) Atlantic City Anti-Trump Museum” on the other side.

Step right up — © Brian Rose

In addition to manning his pop-up museum Levi Fox gives tours of Trumpian Atlantic City, and he teaches history and writing at the local university. Watching him at work on the boardwalk, his affably puckish demeanor spurred impromptu conversations with a wide array of people, and virtually everyone had an opinion about the recently departed king of Atlantic City. He is now, of course, king of the United States of America.

Atlantic City Kickstarter campaign page