The Trump-themed burger mini-chain that once pulled in road-trippers and racked up viral views around Houston has quietly unraveled. In recent months, every Texas spot that leaned on the Trump Burger name has either gone dark or slapped up fresh signage, caught in a swirl of lawsuits and immigration trouble. Those once-brash red, white and blue dining rooms now sit under different names or behind empty storefront windows, and workers and customers say the shift happened almost overnight.
What remains is a scattered trail of rebrands: President Burger, MAGA Burger, Freedom Burgers & Beer Garden and at least one apparent pivot to Empire Pizza. The original concept's future is anyone's guess, turning a loud, nationalized political gimmick into a surprisingly local Houston-area story of a brand that burned hot and then fizzled.
As detailed by the San Antonio Express-News, using updated reporting that drew on a Houston Chronicle rundown, every Trump Burger-branded Texas location has now either shut down or shed the Trump name. The Express-News traced the concept from its 2020 launch in Bellville through later outposts in Flatonia, central Houston, Kemah and a short-lived July 2025 opening in Bay City, tying the wave of renames to an escalating stack of lawsuits and federal immigration actions.
Where The Names Changed
According to the Houston Chronicle, the original Bellville restaurant now goes by President Burger. In Flatonia, the sign reads MAGA Burger, while the Kemah spot, after cycling through a couple of interim identities, is currently operating as Freedom Burgers & Beer Garden.
The Houston location has closed and appears to be in the midst of a conversion to Empire Pizza. Down in Bay City, a site that opened under MAGA branding in July 2025 is now doing business as Jotti's Diner. The Chronicle verified the changes through public records and in-person visits.
ICE Detentions Complicate The Picture
Federal immigration actions have loomed large over the mini-chain's meltdown. Local coverage and an official statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement show that Roland Beainy was detained by ICE on May 16, 2025, and later granted bond by an immigration judge in mid-June while his removal proceedings move forward, according to KPRC Click2Houston.
Those detentions, which briefly pushed the burger brand into national headlines last summer, overlapped with simmering lease disputes and counterclaims that were already in motion before the latest round of name changes.
Brand Feud, Landlord Suits And A Cease-And-Desist
Behind the shuffled signage is a tangled fight over who really owns the Trump Burger concept. Co-founders Suad Hamedah and Iyad Abuelhawa contend that Beainy took the idea after they launched a predecessor restaurant in 2016. The Kemah location in particular has become a flashpoint, with competing lawsuits and allegations that the landlord unlawfully took over the restaurant space, a conflict described in a legal battle with the landlord.
Adding another layer, the Trump Organization sent a cease-and-desist letter earlier in 2025 over use of the Trump name. The San Antonio Express-News reported that the warning, summarized from earlier Houston Chronicle coverage, introduced a trademark wrinkle into an already crowded docket of litigation.
What’s Next: Court Dates And Uncertainty
Several cases tied to the brand are still pending, and courts have started locking in timelines. Galveston County records show a trial connected to the Kemah dispute is currently scheduled for May 2026.
On the immigration front, a federal judge ordered Iyad Abuelhawa released from ICE custody in October 2025 after noting medical issues he experienced while detained, an episode described by the Houston Chronicle. Between unresolved lawsuits, ongoing immigration proceedings and a patchwork of new restaurant names, it remains unclear whether Trump Burger as a brand will ever re-emerge, or whether it will linger on only in court filings and old road-trip photos.
