The Japan Times - At Texas Trump-themed burger joint, diners eating it up

Donald Trump imagery is everywhere in this joint with a dozen tables -- in cardboard cutouts of the man eking out his trademark forced smile, on banners from the 2024 campaign, and on hats and T-shirts displayed for sale.

It is a franchise of a company with four such Trump-themed outlets in Texas and no equal anywhere else in America.

This particular one opened in 2020 and is in Bellville, about a 90-minute drive northwest of Houston in a county where 80 percent of voters cast their ballots for Trump over Kamala Harris back in November.

The chain is not linked to the Trump Organization.

On weekends the Bellville eatery is particularly busy as bikers on roaring Harley-Davidsons roll up, as do families in pickup trucks with big tires.

The menu features the Trump Burger or the supersized Trump Tower with two hamburger patties, the latter costing $16.99.

Those and other sandwiches all come with the word Trump emblazoned on the bun.

Also on offer, in writing at least, is something called the Biden Burger, described as being made from old tomatoes, stale buns and costing a whopping $50.99 -- though presently unavailable due to "cheating and inflation."

-'On the right path'-

On a recent day, many customers told AFP they were delighted so far with Trump 2.0.

Jason Sullivan, 47, who works in oil and gas, said Trump's "drill, baby, drill" attitude toward fossil fuels and dismissal of climate change concerns as he rolls back Biden-era environmental restrictions have been a godsend.

"We've seen a boom and actually sometimes new projects and developments that happened not just in Texas, but across the country so far," said Sullivan.

"A lot of projects that were put on the back burners from the previous administration are now coming to fruition," he added.

Kim Vanek, a 59-year-old retiree, said the first 100 days of Trump's second stint in the White House have gone swimmingly.

Working at a dizzying pace, the Trump administration has moved to slash the government by firing tens of thousands of civil servants, launched a global trade war with tariffs against most countries, and begun a mass deportation of undocumented people.

It has also all but ended US overseas humanitarian aid, locked horns with the media and universities, and launched a campaign of revenge against people Trump sees as enemies.

"He's been planning now for four years to get back in here and people think it's going to happen overnight, things are going to change overnight," said Vanek.

"It's not, but he's on the right path. You're going to see a lot of good things come out of the next three years."

- 'Could have been done better' -

But not everyone at Trump Burger is impressed with Trump's performance so far.

August Money, a 34-year-old Republican who works in health care technology, said the on-again, off-again tariff rollout -- aimed at forcing companies to relocate their factories to the United States -- was chaotic.

"I understand the larger goal of really wanting to bring back domestic manufacturing," said Money.

"Hopefully most of it is really just his, you know, famed negotiating techniques. But yeah, it could have been done better. The calculations they used didn't really make a lot of sense," said Money.

He also criticized the administration for deporting alleged gang members to a grim El Salvador prison without even a court hearing.

Money said, "That's dangerous and a slippery slope right there."

M.Sugiyama--JT