Trump Town USA: The Maga-store where fans of the Don go to spend their dough

In rural Virginia, supporters of the Republican candidate are putting their money where their mouth is

At Trump Town USA in rural Virginia, the “Never Surrender” golden trainers are jumping off the shelves.

Emblazoned with an American flag and a capital T, the red-soled, $300 high-tops have become a must-have for many Donald Trump supporters. They quickly sold out after they were unveiled in March.

“That’s the hottest thing I have right now,” says Whitey Taylor, who owns perhaps the best-known Trump merchandise shop in the US, one of dozens across the country cashing in on the former – and very possibly the next – president’s popularity.

“Nobody here has his shoes, I'm the only guy that has them,” Mr Taylor says.

He ordered 1,000 pairs from a manufacturer in China and is making a fortune, despite the $17,000 air shipping fee, as he sells the footwear at a jaw-dropping mark-up.

One customer from South Carolina loaded 40 pairs into his car, presumably to resell at an even higher price.

Trump Town USA and its customers illustrate why Trump may well beat President Joe Biden in the November 5 election.

Despite his criminal convictions in a hush-money case and having been found liable for sexual assault, Trump is polling neck and neck with the Democratic incumbent, but is slightly ahead in the crucial swing states that will decide who wins.

Mr Taylor says the convictions have only galvanised support for Trump, who claims the criminal cases against him are a partisan witch hunt. He also insists, though without evidence, that Mr Biden ordered the prosecutions.

“When Trump was convicted, our business picked up considerably, we doubled in business,” Mr Taylor says. “A lot of people said, 'I wasn't going to vote for him, but I am now'.”

A recent visit to the shop highlighted an enduring enthusiasm for Trump, whereas Democrats are divided over a frail Mr Biden and are giving a mixed verdict on his time in the White House.

Outrage over his backing of Israel as it wages war in Gaza has sapped vital support from progressives, and high inflation is overshadowing economic bright spots. And a dismal debate performance against Trump on Thursday has only reinforced the narrative that Mr Biden is no longer fit to run for re-election.

Located in a decommissioned church that has been resurrected as a shrine to all things Trump, Mr Taylor's shop is impossible to miss for true believers and curious passers-by alike, as it sits at the only traffic light on the busy road bisecting Boones Mill, population 272.

Maga (Make America Great Again) and Gadsden flags – the yellow banners first used during the American Revolution that have become the favourite symbols of the right – flutter from the redbrick building, the lawn outside festooned with Trump signs.

The shop itself offers a smorgasbord of schlocky Trump and Republican-themed clothing and gimmicks that revel in their political incorrectness.

Serrated hunting knives with Confederate flags on the handle, dartboards with Mr Biden's face centred over the bullseye and $20 whisky tumblers featuring an Arnold Schwarzenegger-style “Trumpinator”, promising “I'll be back”, are some of the items in the panoply of pro-Trump tchotchkes.

One of Mr Taylor's favourites is a Trump doll wearing a red baseball cap and baggy jeans. With a squeeze of a little hand pump, the figure drops its trousers and invites the viewer the kiss its exposed buttocks.

“We sell a lot of those,” he says of the mooning figure.

Cheeky items like this lend an air of frivolity to the shop, but Mr Taylor turns dour when asked about the possibility of Mr Biden winning a second term.

There “will be violence”, he says.

“People are fed up with this [expletive]. They know it's all corrupt. … It's not going to be good for the country,” Mr Taylor says.

“I think it'll be a civil war.”

When asked to elaborate, the hitherto jocular Mr Taylor says he considered neighbours with yard signs supporting Mr Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to be “the enemy”.

“There was probably 10, 20 houses that had Harris-Biden signs in their yards. I told everybody came in here, 'that's the enemy, mark the houses. That's who you gotta go back for',” he says.

In the event of a conflict, Mr Taylor, who carries a carries a .380-calibre handgun in his back pocket, promises to fight such people “in a second”. As the topic changes, his demeanour reverts back to one of Southern charm and friendliness.

A steady stream of customers visited Trump Town USA, all of them projecting a strong sense of pessimism about what would happen in America if Mr Biden wins a second term.

They all gave the economy and uncontrolled illegal immigration as their top concerns and depicted a country paralysed by high inflation that is allowing in anyone who shows up at the southern border.

On top of that, they view the 81-year-old President, who would be 86 at the end of a second term, as incapable of doing the job - a perception that has only widened since Mr Biden appeared bewildered and gave incoherent statements at Thursday's debate.

“If Trump don't win, we're all going to hell in a handbasket,” said Bob Bryant, a retired carpenter from Roanoke who had just bought a red Maga baseball cap.

Mr Biden has “ruined our country you know, like he opened up the border and let all those people in”.

The number of people crossing the US-Mexico border illegally has been rising for years, driven by several factors including climate change and unrest.

But illegal crossings soared soon after Mr Biden took office in 2021 and ended several Trump-era restrictions, overwhelming border agents, immigration judges and courts.

Numbers hit an all-time high in 2022, when 2.2 million people crossed without proper authorisation.

Paul Smith, 18, a high school pupil from northern Virginia, said the influx of immigrants “looks like it's an invasion”.

“I want [Trump] to take back control of the border,” said Mr Smith, who will be voting for the first time in November. He bought a Trump mug and bumper sticker as gifts for his father.

Another central issue in the November 5 election is the state of the US economy. On paper, it looks good, with unemployment levels holding steady at record lows while the stock market is on a streak, pushing past all-time highs.

But many say wage growth has not kept up with inflation and a long bout of high interest rates has made housing, petrol and groceries too expensive.

Another customer, Julie Oxendine, a cafeteria manager from nearby North Carolina, says her oldest daughter and her husband had been planning on buying a house this year.

But the monthly payment on a $150,000 mortgage was $1,600 – nearly double what it would have been a couple of years ago. Instead of buying their own home, the couple is stuck renting for the foreseeable future.

“It just sucks. And I blame part of this on Biden,” Ms Oxendine tells The National.

“I also think that people have to be honest that Joe Biden is not capable of running a country any more.

“They're gonna have to step up and say, maybe Trump isn't my favourite person, but he's better for the job.”

Not everyone in Boones Mill is a Trump fan.

Shannon Neice, whose family has lived here since its founding in the 1700s, said many residents resent how Mr Taylor has tried to rebrand the entire community as “Trump Town”.

“They are not Trump supporters for the most part,” she said.

Still, she credited Mr Taylor for donating “a lot” to various charitable causes around town.