After Donald Trump’s campaign allegedly skipped out on the bill following a 2018 rally, officials in Erie, Pa., want the Republican 2024 front-runner to pay up before his rally on Saturday night.
City officials said the former president’s Make America Great Again rally ran up a $35,129 tab while passing through town for an Oct. 10, 2018, rally at Erie Insurance Arena. That bill for overtime pay for city workers including law enforcement officers was footed by taxpayer money.
Trump plans to return to the scene of the proverbial crime at 6 p.m. Saturday following an afternoon of events at that same venue. City officials said they have no control over the arena, but plan to bill his campaign in advance for the services an event like this requires.
“The city has a duty — and will continue — to provide security for our residents, businesses and anyone who holds an event like this the city, regardless of whether they reimburse the city for unusual coverage costs, or not,” a city spokesman said in a statement to the Daily News.
That statement also said any event of this magnitude, regardless its nature, requires considerable manpower and its organizers “will be billed by the city in advance.”
The former president’s campaign paid $17,500 to rent Erie Insurance Arena in 2018, according to the Erie Times-News.
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But the city says it’s yet be made whole as the 77-year-old politician — who has a long history of dodging debt — prepares to host another costly spectacle meant to return him to the White House in 2024.
“We’re going to see whether we can get some payment from them in advance this time,” Erie Mayor Joe Schember said Tuesday. “It’s important to do this because we’re talking about taxpayer money being used to help make his visit more safe.”
Running up debt at massive fund-raising events isn’t unheard of for Trump’s campaign.
In March, the Daily Beast contacted 30 counties and municipalities where the 45th president hosted rallies and only one of those places responded to confirm it’d been reimbursed.
El Paso, Texas, hired a collection agency to retrieve nearly $570,000 compensation Trump’s campaign owed the city from a 2019 event, according to The Houston Chronicle. A representative from the purported billionaire politician’s camp said they were “reviewing” the invoice, which included more than $380,000 owed to police officers.