Skip to main content

You make this possible. Support our independent, nonprofit newsroom today.

Give Now

This is Donald Trump and his wife Phyllis

caption: Don Trump, left, and his wife Phyllis Trump at an event in Des Moines, Washington, to end hunger. They have attended the event for 27 years.
Enlarge Icon
Don Trump, left, and his wife Phyllis Trump at an event in Des Moines, Washington, to end hunger. They have attended the event for 27 years.
KUOW Photo/Isolde Raftery

Donald L. Trump of Des Moines, Washington, doesn’t have a red cap.

“I don’t have the hair, the money or the big mouth,” he says.

Standing next to him is his wife Phyllis Trump, who smiles a little when he says this.

“Medium mouth,” she says, and he laughs. They’ve been married 49 years.

Top read: Yes, I live in the Jungle. And so do 400 other people

Don Trump is 72 years old, two years older than Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential candidate.

“We’ve had quite different career paths,” Don Trump says. “And I’ve been married once.”

Don Trump moved to Seattle in March 1968 after four years in the service in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He heard there was work in Washington state and there was: He landed a job in less than 48 hours at Sears in the mail-order division.

When his part of the Sears operation closed, he went to work for Boeing as a mechanic’s assistant. He was laid off in 2003.

Since then he has been involved in his church and helped care for his grandson. On Sunday, he participated in a walk to end hunger. He’s been doing that for 26 years.

He first learned about The Donald — the Donald — at church.

“One day, a gal comes up to me and gives me an in-flight magazine that says, ‘Does anybody like Donald Trump?’” he says. “I’ll never forget that day. And so I got to reading his book, his first autobiography. I liked some of the things he stood for.”

Don Trump was further impressed when he read that The Donald renovated an ice skating rink in Central Park after the city bungled the project by spending six years and $13 million on the project. (The Donald got it done in four months, and now his name is apparently emblazoned on the zamboni there.)

“Being a business man, I think he would help us balance the budget,” Don Trump says. “I think he’d make a good president.”

Does sharing a name soften his feelings about the candidate? Well, of course, he says. And seeing his name in the voter’s guide has been a trip.

“I feel like I've got more involved in politics because of his name,” Don Trump says. “And a lot of laughter out of it.”

But he’s been disheartened by some of The Donald’s antics on the campaign trail.

“The way he treats the candidates and some of the issues,” Don Trump says. “He did say that if he didn’t, it would be boring and everyone would fall asleep.”

But it leaves a bad taste in his mouth, he says.

“I just don't like to see somebody cut down,” Don Trump continues. “I don't think that's good politics, or a good way to run your campaign. I know a debate is a time to throw mud, but some of the things he says – I think that's going to hurt him more than anything else. Recently he caused a riot.”

There are rumors that The Donald might come to western Washington this week. If that happens, Don Trump doesn’t know if he’ll go. He has trouble with his leg, and he worries about riots. But he’d like a red cap.

“And I could use some of his money, but that’s a different story.”

Why you can trust KUOW