OKLAHOMA CITY — Upon meeting Uncle Sam, it’s clear he’s a showman.

Even before trainer Jonathan Wood has a chance to open the latch on a crate that houses the 27-year-old bald eagle, Sam clamors to get out to meet the latest person who’s come to see him.

He hops onto his special perch, stretches his wings just shy of their 6-foot span, fluffs the thick feathers covering his 10-pound body, then cocks his head this way and that as if trying to get a better look.

These days Sam performs for large audiences at the Oklahoma State Fair as a part of Wood’s Extreme Raptor bird show.

But, like Wood, his friend and longtime partner, Uncle Sam’s interested in making an impression.

“Want to say something today?” asks Wood, 59, of South Padre Island, Texas.

Sammy, as Wood calls the eagle, lets out a high-pitched call that sounds like “ee-ee-ee-ee-eek” — a cry that, oddly enough, resembles a monkey’s.

He tips his head and stares with his yellow eyes as if daring anyone to disagree.

Wood and Uncle Sam have been together for more than two decades, since Wood, who struggled financially during a downturn in the ’90s, gambled on a new change and turned a longtime love of birds into a business.

Wood received his first bird at age 12 — a kestrel whose name he cannot recall. It was eaten by a raccoon.

His business now features 60 birds, including Sam.

Wood has one of the few federal permits allowing him to keep a bald eagle in captivity.

When Wood first met Uncle Sam, the 5-year-old eagle was rehabbing from being hit by a car in Virginia. Rescuers had amputated Uncle Sam’s left wing tip to save his life.

“So, I always tell people he’s a right-winger, which goes over very well with Republicans,” jokes Wood. “It didn’t go over very well with Bill Clinton when I told him that joke. He just stone-faced me, acted like he didn’t hear it.”

Wood later admits that Sam apparently tried to bite President Clinton.

However, Sam appears to have no such qualms about presidential hopeful Donald Trump.

On Friday, Sam and Wood were scheduled to appear with Trump before thousands of fair-goers, in Trump’s first public appearance in Oklahoma since announcing his candidacy.

Twenty-one birds that Wood brought to the fair perform just yards from the Bandshell stage where Trump was expected to speak. When Wood agreed to come to the fair, he had no idea that Trump would show up, too.

It likely will be the largest crowd that Wood and Uncle Sam have ever met, but it won’t be their first encounter with the billionaire businessman running for the Republican nomination.

Wood and Uncle Sam first met Trump in May, at one of the real estate developer’s golf clubs, where they’d been hired to perform.

“He comes up behind me, he doesn’t say hi or anything,” Wood recalls. “He goes, so what’s the favorite bird of the crowd here?”

Of course, it’s Uncle Sam, Wood responded.

“He was very interested in my birds and what I do. I kind of wanted to talk politics because besides being into birds, I’m a political junkie,” he said.

A few months later, Wood encountered Trump again. He’d arrived at Trump Tower about 3 a.m. “I asked the doorman to let me in because I’m going to see Mr. Trump in the morning,” laughs Wood. “And he’s looking at me like, ‘Yeah, sure.'”

Given the hour, Wood reclined the seat of a rented SUV and slept at the curb in front of Trump Tower. Turns out, he wasn’t kidding about that appointment. Uncle Sam was booked to appear in a Time magazine photo shoot with the presidential front-runner.

Uncle Sam’s celebrity extends to television and film. He co-starred with Katie Holmes in the 2014 flick “Days and Nights.” He posed with Stephen Colbert in Rolling Stone magazine and joined Martha Stewart on her show.

And those are just the ones that Wood recalls off the top of his head.

During the Trump photo shoot, the candidate took an interest in bald eagles, Wood said. “Twice he shouted out the office, ‘Windmills are chopping these birds up,’” he said. “He made sure everybody heard that.”

It’s not just Uncle Sam who has come to like Trump.

Wood said Trump has secured his vote, too.

“I’ve met many celebrities who have sort of an attitude, but he doesn’t,” he said. “He’s very down to earth. If you didn’t know it was Donald Trump, you would think he’s very a warm and engaging person because he seems more interested in you.”

After appearing with Trump, Wood said he’ll likely set up a chair on top of his RV, where he usually stays while on the road to be close to his birds.

This time, he’ll also have a bird’s-eye view of Trump’s show.

Wood’s Extreme Raptors Show is scheduled three times a day at the Oklahoma State Fair — 2 p.m., 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. — through Sept. 27. The show is free with fair admission.

Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhi.com