Trump Austin-Based Texas HQ Not Exactly The Trump Plaza

AUSTIN, TX -- The Texas presidential campaign headquarters for billionaire Donald Trump aren’t exactly stately like his Trump Tower in Chicago nor flamboyantly gilded in 24-carat gold like his Trump International Hotel.

In a departure for his typical flashiness, Trump’s Austin-based headquarters are rather tiny by comparison and less over-the-top than his usual standards.

It’s gold, all right. But just in color to the metallic exterior. It’s a mailbox at a local UPS store.

In a recent news release, the Trump campaign lists its Texas operation as being “headquartered” at 815-A Brazos St. PMB 403 in Austin, reports CultureMap.

The website’s reporters tracked down the address and found the so-called headquarters situated along some 500 other metal mailboxes inside “...a rather nondescript office building in downtown Austin,” the site reports.

In fairness, CultureMap notes the Trump campaign employs several campaign staffers in the Lone Star State. But it’s a safe bet they don’t work inside Mailbox 403.

According to the Texas Tribune, the campaign is based in downtown Austin’s 10-story Vaughn Building, which is where the UPS store is located.

The setup might be something of a barometer of each candidate’s campaign inroads or future primary election results in Texas. By comparison, Trump’s presidential rival Ted Cruz occupies an actual office in the same building, on the sixth floor, as outlined in a LinkedIn page for his campaign.

The real estate -- building and mailbox section both, the whole Vaughn Building in other words -- is owned by Austin attorney Harry Whittington, CultureMap further reports.

If his name sounds vaguely familiar, Whittington is the notable Republican booster who made national headlines after being shot in the face by former vice president Dick Cheney during a hunting trip.

But this is another matter entirely.

The disparity in headquarters real estate -- mailbox versus actual office -- could yield an apt metaphor for the inroads made in Texas by both candidates. Cruz is popular in his home state, his name recognition no doubt to be aided by this week’s high-profile endorsement by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

But then again maybe it’s not the size of the headquarters that matters: The latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, indicates Trump leads Cruz among likely GOP primary voters in the Lone Star State by 8 percentage points.

Time will tell. The Republican primaries are scheduled March 1.