Trump Truth Store owner agrees to vacate Huntley building amid eviction threats — but hopes to soon reopen in a larger location

Chicago Tribune

5 hours ago

The owner of a controversial Trump-themed store facing eviction in Chicago's northwest suburbs has agreed to move out of the building next month as part of a settlement agreement with the landlord filed Wednesday in McHenry County Circuit Court.
Yet Lisa Fleischmann of the Trump Truth Store in Huntley said she hasn't given up her vision for a local shop dedicated to making America great again: The entrepreneur said she hopes to soon relocate to a new space in a nearby suburb, preferably one with more square footage.
'People want to know the truth; they support my fight,' said Fleischmann, who appeared in court wearing a black tube top reading '45-47 Take America back,' sandals decorated with a copy of President Donald Trump's signature and a faux crystal 'Trump' choker with an American flag. 'The people of Huntley definitely support what I'm doing,' she said. 'I'm like a celebrity whenever I go out to any of these functions. It's insane.'
Her store was accused of violating Huntley building and sign ordinances, partially because of a 6-foot-tall blow-up replica of Trump that greets passersby outside the shop along Illinois Route 47, as well as her use of sidewalk space for outdoor signs and merchandise.
Several citations were filed in January against the store's landlord, Ricky Lynfield Inc., which then threatened the business with eviction.
The store owner said she believes Huntley officials were discriminating against her business based on politics. During an interview with the Tribune in May, Fleischmann had pledged to fight the so-called municipal swamp, arguing the village ordinances were old, overburdensome and unfairly enforced.
'Everybody has stuff all over the place,' she added outside the courtroom. 'Their ordinances are so outdated.'
Huntley officials said in a written statement that they've been trying to work with Fleischmann for the past year to comply with the sign ordinance governing the village of about 28,000 residents about 50 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.
'However, Ms. Fleischmann insists on maintaining signage in violation of the ordinance that includes temporary banners, flags, inflatable figures and signs placed within the right-of-way,' the statement said.
But now the Trump inflatable outside her store — and all the other Make America Great Again and DOGE merchandise inside the shop — will have to be removed by 6 p.m. on July 17, according to the settlement.
Fleischmann said she agreed to the settlement in part because she doesn't want to continue to bother her landlord with the matter, calling him 'a great guy' who has faced tremendous blowback over the controversy.
'My landlord is definitely not the villain,' she said. 'I have no animosity towards him.'
The high-profile store was the site of dueling protests late last month: Roughly 100 supporters of Trump Truth rallied on May 31 to defend the business, many adorned in Trump-themed apparel, as drivers passing by honked in approval.
About a half-mile from the store, 200 detractors demonstrated against the business, eliciting a separate flurry of honks from cars.
Joe Gottemoller, lawyer for the landlord, said his client is 'quite happy to have this done.'
The attorney also stressed that the eviction proceedings had nothing to do with Fleischmann's politics or the kind of merchandise she sells.
'I don't believe it's political at all,' said Gottemoller, a Republican who also serves on the McHenry County Board. 'Most towns have these ordinances. It's not just Huntley.'
He added that the sign and building code violations pending against the landlord will likely be resolved after the store is gone.
As for Fleischmann, she vowed that the settlement doesn't mark the end of the Trump Truth Store but rather a chance for a new beginning.
She's already been searching for another larger location, perhaps somewhere in Algonquin or Carpentersville.
Fleischmann hopes to find a site that's around 3,000 or 4,000 square feet – roughly three or four times the size of her current strip mall location.
In the meantime, she plans to continue selling merchandise online to help raise funds for rent at a future location. Her trinkets include drinking glasses bearing the phrase 'BULLETPROOF TRUMP,' with a mock bullet lodged on one side, an apparent nod to the assassination attempt during the 2024 presidential campaign. There are also products celebrating the 'Gulf of America,' the newly renamed Gulf of Mexico, among Trump's earliest executive orders.
Signs declaring that Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker 'sucks' also seemed popular with customers, according to the business website.
Fleischmann said the roughly 900-square-foot space in Huntley was never big enough, dismissively calling it 'a closet.'
She dreams of reopening as early as September or October, in a new spot big enough to include a replica Oval Office where children can sit at a desk pretending to be president or pose for pictures. She wants to host communal gathering spaces for like-minded folks to share ideas on how to 'Make America Healthy Again,' one of the Trump administration's stated goals despite making deep cuts to public health and scientific research that have deeply concerned many doctors and scientists.
To Fleischmann, the eviction settlement doesn't represent defeat.
'I wanted to move,' she added, fingering a 'Trump' lanyard connected to her keys and a wallet adorned with the president's likeness. 'I needed a bigger space.'