At the solitary stoplight in Boones Mill along Route 220 in Franklin County sits The Trump Store. Unless you're asleep in the passenger seat, it's nearly impossible to miss.
Flags, yard signs, giant Donald Trump cutouts, and an RV with the former president flashing his signature “thumbs up” emblazed on the side – all drawing attention to the store, housed in an old church building. In the eyes of some – patriotic. For others, a garish and gaudy eyesore.
“Number one destination on the east coast – and soon to be in the world!”, exclaims Trump Store creator Whitey Taylor. He's well-known to those in the region as the consummate promoter and pitchman.
Taylor says the inspiration came to him on a rainy day in Daytona with his son, “I told him, I said get that Gideon’s bible out. We’re gonna pray Jeremiah 33:3. That’s the only place in the bible God actually called him. And my son said what d’ya think God is telling you, dad? I said, he told me to help Donald Trump! It came in my spirit. And he said, how are you going to help him? I said, well, the girl I’ve been buying the t-shirts from – I’m going to call her and order a thousand. He said, oh, dad! Don’t be so crazy. Just get a hundred. I said, go big or go home, boy! If God’s telling us to do this, we’ll sell every one of them. If not, we’ll throw them in the trash can and leave. We’re not broke!”
He and his son sold them all. That was the catalyst that lead to The Trump Store. Which features anything and everything Trump.
Taylor points to one piece of merchandise, “Mugs are really popular. I’m out of the red one right now. This is the one I was telling you about that has the mug shot on it. We’re about out of those again."
I acknowledge the ironic joke, “It’s a mugshot ON a mug!”
“Yes, and we’ve sold thousands of them", Taylor proudly boasts.
I asked, “Do people, when they come in, are they just simply wanting to shop or does the topic ever turn to politics?”
Taylor responds, “ALWAYS to politics! They’re looking for kindred hearts, I mean, we always share the same. Except for a few, uh, communists that come in. And then I have to get them straightened out.”
Outside the store, I met Don Conners. He and his wife were traveling from Florida to home in New York.
Conners explains, "We were travelling through. Never driven this route before and so we thought we’d try it. It’s very scenic. And so, it caught my eye. You can’t help but pass the flags and…"
I interrupt with a question "And so, did you go completely past it? Were you stopped at the stop light?"
Conners laughs, “Oh, no! I went completely past it. Did a U-turn to come back. Had to wait for the traffic to clear!”
My visit then took an unexpected turn when Whitey Taylor insisted, I pay a visit to his business neighbor directly across the street.
Shirley B. Jamison is an attorney who has been practicing law for over forty years. Her office was at its current location, directly across the street, long before the Trump Store opened its doors.
Jamison recalls, it didn’t take long for people in town to define their sentiments about the Trump Store, “There were several members who were probably Democrats and certainly citizens of Boone’s Mill who did not welcome the Trump Store being here. And then there were other folks who thought it was a thrilling statement of speech independence. That he could be right here on 220 highway.”
Jamison calls herself a strong Democrat. But in spite of opposing political viewpoints, Taylor and Jamison carry on with civility – and a respect for the other’s beliefs.
“They are congenial neighbors. We enjoy their conviviality. It’s just that we don’t believe anything the same at all!" says with a laugh.
For those who know BOTH Taylor and Jamison, it’s a curious arrangement.
“They want to know about our aggressions toward each other or what have you. But we don’t have that. We don’t have any acrimony. We coexist peacefully, says Jamison.
As for Taylor, he says regardless of the outcome of the 2024 election, his store will carry on.
“If Trump died today – but he won’t – if he died today, this place would still be open twenty years from now,” promises Taylor.
The intersection on Route 220 in Boones Mill is, in many ways, a microcosm of America.
