CHARLESTON – After 24 years in the state Legislature, Charles Trump is no stranger to the state Capitol.
But this year after 10 years as chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee, Trump has a new office and a new job. He’s moved up one floor as the newest justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.
“It’s very different from what I’m accustomed to as a legislator,” Trump, 64, told The West Virginia Record in a recent interview. “And that’s for a number of reasons.
“For 24 years in the House and Senate, a legislator’s whole focus is on what the law should be. As a justice on the Supreme Court, it’s quite a bit different. The focus is on what the law is, not what one thinks the law should be.”
Trump said serving on an appellate court was something he always thought would be interesting.
“It is something I had aspired to do,” he said. “Trial judges are often asked to make decisions on the fly. But an appellate court has the luxury to be a little more deliberative and spend time doing research. That suits me a little better. There’s more opportunity to review and research for informed decisions and opinions.”
Trump said he had considered running for the Supreme Court before, but the “timing just didn’t work out.”
“But it was about a year and a half ago when Justice (John) Hutchison made his announcement that he was retiring, so I thought this might be my opportunity,” Trump said. “I talked to my family, close friends and colleagues in the Legislature. And I decided to do it. Things worked out.”
Trump ran unopposed in the Supreme Court race, as did Justice Haley Bunn in her 2024 re-election bid.
And Trump said he’s had a crash course in courts.
“I’m trying, and I’m working hard to do it,” he said. “But I have much more to learn. I learn new things every day here. Yes, it’s been a bit of a crash course.
“I attended the judicial conference in the fall. That was very helpful to me. I’ve had enormous outreach from the court’s administrative office, the court clerk’s office and my fellow justices. They’ve all been involved in my apprenticeship, and I appreciate all they have done.”
Trump, who lives in Berkeley Springs, said the move has been a big adjustment in terms of the processes and learning how things work.
“As a legislator, I was used to people from everywhere calling me and tugging on my shoulder,” he said. “But in the judicial branch, the source of information that informs our actions and decisions, it comes only from parties and the litigators.
“It’s a lot more cloistered, and necessarily so.”
Still, Trump is enjoying the new perspective. And he enjoys working with his new colleagues.
“I couldn’t say enough good things about all of them,” Trump said. “They’ve all been very gracious and helpful. They’ve all been patient with me and all of my silly questions about how things work within the court that I didn’t know before I arrived here. It’s been a bit of a learning curve, but everybody has been helpful and patient.
“But I have to discipline myself. And I’m working to do that. So I’m not a judicial officer who takes it upon himself to create law. If I wanted to create law, I would have stayed in the other branch of government. We take the law as it’s given to us and try to apply it the best we can with the facts.”
Trump received his bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University in 1982 and a law degree from West Virginia University College of Law in 1985. He spent his legal career at his family’s law firm Trump and Trump in Berkeley Springs. The firm has been in existence since 1932.
Trump served in the state Senate from 2015 to 2024, and he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee for those 10 years. He served in the House of Delegates from 1993 to 2006. He was House Minority Whip and House Minority Leader during that time. He also was the Morgan County Prosecutor from 1989 to 1992.
Now, he can add Supreme Court Justice to his resume.
“I have been so impressed with the standard that has been set by my colleagues on this court,” Trump said. “The four justices have constituted a good court, and we are working hard every day to make sure justice is delivered for the citizens of West Virginia.”