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Arizona Coffee Shop Declares Itself The One-Stop Shop For All Things Trump

The Trumped Store and Coffee House offers a vast collection of Trump-inspired merchandise, from T-shirts to teddy bears.
Aaron Granillo
/
KNAU
The Trumped Store and Coffee House offers a vast collection of Trump-inspired merchandise, from T-shirts to teddy bears.

A steady stream of customers arrives every morning at The Trumped Store and Coffee House in Show Low, Ariz. Beneath a sign that reads "Making Coffee Great Again," barista Sean Lynch whips up a latte. He pours foam over espresso and milk, still fine-tuning his latte artwork.

"Sometimes I'll make random abstract shapes, and I'll be like, 'Look that's Trump's head'," Lynch jokes. "People will be like, 'No way!' "

The store is full of customers from all over the state. Some come for the coffee, others for the vast collection of President Trump-inspired merchandise.

Rosemary Quesenberry drove three hours to buy a shirt. "I'm picking up the medium T-shirt again, 'I'm an adorable deplorable,' " Quesenberry says.

Co-owners Steve Slaton and Karen MacKean cheer Quesenberry on. Slaton and MacKean opened the store in 2016 by converting a former mechanic's garage into an unofficial campaign headquarters for then-candidate Donald Trump. The coffee shop came later.

They sell Trump teddy bears and rubber ducks, mugs and children's books. There's even a Trump toilet paper roll holder in the restroom. When you pull the toilet paper, it literally delivers the president's message: "Our leaders are stupid ... Our politicians are stupid ... We will have so much winning if I get elected that you may get bored with winning."

Trumped Store and Coffee House co-owner Karen MacKean envisions an expansion to set up a Trump wine bar.
Aaron Granillo / KNAU
/
KNAU
Trumped Store and Coffee House co-owner Karen MacKean envisions an expansion to set up a Trump wine bar.

"We're passionate conservatives. We are here to hopefully keep this very, very conservative area and keep it a strong republic," MacKean says. "So, that's why we so strongly support the president's policies."

The city of Show Low is home to many conservatives. Registered Republicans here outnumber Democrats 3 to 1.

But not everybody in Navajo County likes The Trumped Store. It has been vandalized, and the owners say they sometimes receive threatening calls. It's also a popular location for peaceful protests.

"Every once in a while, we have demonstrations in the park next to them," Eric Kramer, chairman of Navajo County Democrats, says.

Trumped Store and Coffee House co-owner Steve Slaton shows off a letter signed by President Trump.
Aaron Granillo / KNAU
/
KNAU
Trumped Store and Coffee House co-owner Steve Slaton shows off a letter signed by President Trump.

Kramer doesn't think The Trumped Store had any effect on the area's Republican voting record in the 2018 midterms. After all, he says, Navajo County — except for Show Low — has more Democrats than Republicans.

"We saw very good turnout, and that's a part of what helped us to win statewide offices for the first time in many, many years," Kramer says. "We're feeling good about the direction of things."

Slaton and MacKean are feeling good, too. They even have plans to expand The Trumped Store. "It's another room over there that's not developed yet," MacKean says. "Our plan is to make it a Trump wine bar."

Copyright 2020 KNAU News Talk. To see more, visit KNAU News Talk.

Corrected: November 27, 2018 at 10:00 PM MST
An earlier version of this story misspelled Rosemary Quesenberry's last name as Quessenberry. Previously posted on Nov. 24:An earlier version of this story misspelled Karen MacKean's last name as McKean.
Aaron Granillo