- Trump Burger, a chain not affiliated with Donald Trump, is expanding rapidly across Texas, selling T-shirts and sandwiches that have the Trump name branded onto the bun.
Donald Trump’s name has been attached to everything from bibles to NFTs to steaks. Now it’s being attached to a burger chain, but this time…Trump has nothing to do with it.
Trump Burger is a new quick-service restaurant chain that’s finding a loyal audience in Texas. The owners have two locations open already, in Bellville and Flatonia (just outside of San Antonio), with a third set to open in the Houston area in the coming weeks, and plans are already underway for a fourth location.
While it features his name prominently, even stamping it atop the bun of every sandwich sold, Trump Burger has no formal affiliation with the president. Instead, it was founded by a man who grew up in Lebanon and moved to the U.S. six years ago.
Locations have cardboard standups of Trump, as well as campaign flags lining the walls and covering windows, interspersed with drawings. Pro-Trump (and obscenity-festooned anti-Biden) T-shirts, hats, and other merchandise are for sale. One location even has a plaque hanging near the order and pick-up windows declaring Trump “Back 2 Back Impeachment Champion.”
Owner Roland Beainy tells the Houston Chronicle he became a fan of Trump’s soon after arriving in the U.S., saying he believed Trump benefitted the economy in his first term.
Given the political divide in the country, especially over Trump, the locations occasionally face disturbances from people who oppose Trump’s policies. Beainy says he has called the police in those instances to quell problems. The restaurant’s Bellville location has a better-than-four-star ranking on Yelp.