Tolkkinen: ‘Everyone treated fair and equal.’

GLENWOOD, MINN. - Billy Bacus wore a red “Trump Forever” cap while drinking coffee at Penny’s Diner, a shiny metal restaurant that evokes the 1950s.

Even in conservative Glenwood, Bacus stands out for his pro-Trump paraphernalia, but he’s surprisingly reticent about speaking to a journalist. Will I twist his words? Make him sound something other than his authentic self? He’s not great with words, he says, but he is good at reading people, and when I grow audibly impatient over the phone, he makes a decision. He’ll talk to me.

Penny’s Diner is where we meet. My goal is to talk to supporters of President Donald Trump in greater Minnesota, which resoundingly endorsed his third race for the presidency. So what are their hopes for the next four years?

Bacus is the only Trump supporter I’ve met in Glenwood who will speak on the record. Others have voiced their resentment about foreigners who come into their town unable to speak English, using their smartphones to communicate. One called Trump a “hero.” Another called him “open-minded” and added, “He’s going to save the world.” From what, he didn’t say before closing his door. Another man, in his 40s, said he hoped to regain the prosperity he had under Trump, so he could move out of his parents’ house. None of these people want their name in print.

Glenwood is a beautiful city of about 2,650 residents, hills sloping down to Lake Minnewaska, where dozens of ice fishing shacks cast shadows on a sunny winter day. Its companies make airplane passenger stairs and baggage carts, livestock waterers and waste oil tanks. It’s in Pope County, where nearly 65% of voters chose Trump in the 2024 election.

Bacus is Alaska-born, a retired businessman in his 70s who moved to Glenwood a handful of years ago because his girlfriend is from Minnesota. He’s not a Republican, he says, and he doesn’t like labels. He likes depending on himself as much as he can. He says he doesn’t draw Social Security and he doesn’t buy commercial homeowners insurance, knowing he can rebuild with his own money if he has to.

He hopes that under Trump, immigrants won’t come here illegally. But he’s not against immigration. He expects Trump to make the process easier, so that people won’t resort to sneaking across the border, and also so that criminals will be kept out.

“We need new blood in America,” he said. “We want the best. We don’t want the trash.”

Bacus owned a company that worked on underground utilities. Experienced in government contracts, he said he would like to see the federal government dispense with policies that give priority to women- or minority-owned contractors or require contractors to hire quotas of women or minorities. The practice drives up costs, he said. He’s seen a minority-owned business in the Lower 48 land a contract with the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska, then hire an Alaskan-based subcontractor to do the work.

Bacus isn’t the only one with high hopes for Trump and the next four years. Like shoppers everywhere, rural Minnesotans are finding themselves crushed by the price of groceries. Eggs are $7 or more per dozen at the grocery store as flocks are wiped out by bird flu. Oatmeal that cost $2 in 2020 now costs $3.50. Containers are shrinking; you pay more but get less. Wages aren’t as high as they are in urban areas. Grocery stores aren’t as close. And gas will kill your wallet.

In Hanska, west of Mankato, convenience store manager Janet Anderson said she has cut back on buying eggs and milk for herself. She primarily eats one meal a day and tides herself over with a bowl of cereal.

“I hope he brings inflation and the price of groceries down,” she said.

The U.S. needs to stop sending billions of dollars overseas and pay attention to its own people, she said.

Barry Nelson, a Becker County commissioner in northwestern Minnesota, said he hopes politicians can put agendas aside and that people can move forward together.

He said he and others he knows voted for Trump partly to stop the forward march of transgender rights. He understands that transgender people exist and believes they deserve rights but said it’s simply not fair that transgender girls or women want to compete in women’s sports. They are naturally bigger, stronger and faster, and maybe they should be able to get their own league, he said. As the father of three daughters who play sports, he thinks trans females would unfairly dominate.

“This is the line,” he said. “It’s not homophobia. It’s about fairness.”

We’ve all seen the voting maps, how Democrats control cities and statewide and federal elections in Minnesota, and how the GOP has strengthened in greater Minnesota. Even with this gap, many of those I talk to want unity, not division. But just wishing for it isn’t enough. We need to be able to disagree without belittling each other.

People who criticize Trump, or Biden, or U.S. policy, often have valid points. But in Glenwood, Bacus just wants to see more American flags.

“I’d like to see people being proud of America again,” he said. “Everyone treated fair and equal.”