"We won't hold our breath": Trump rallies leave over a dozen cities with unpaid bills
Former President Donald Trump 's rallies have left over a dozen cities with unpaid debts after his campaign failed to cover the full costs of hosting his events, ABC News reported .
In 2019, Trump visited Albuquerque, New Mexico, and left an unpaid bill of $211,176 in public safety costs after a rally at the Santa Ana Star Center. That bill has nearly doubled in the last five years, with Trump now owing the city $444,986 including interest.
The Republican nominee visited the Democratic city for the first time in five years on Thursday.
"Still waiting for Trump to pay the half million he owes. Maybe he's making a special Halloween delivery to the Duke City? We won't hold our breath," Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller posted on X alongside a photo of a skeleton.
Keller's office sent bills to Trump's New York and Mar-a-Logo residences and a collection agency is working to recover the debt, the mayor's office told ABC.
Trump's rallies often bring thousands of people to small cities and towns with limited resources to begin with. They have to securely set-up and staff temporary infrastructure to host the rallies.
Albuquerque is one of a dozen cities the Trump campaign has left with unpaid bills, the majority pertaining to overtime pay for first responders who worked the rallies, ABC reported after interviewing city officials. A previous analysis from NBC News found Trump owes municipalities a combined $750,000 since 2016.
The unpaid costs range from tens of thousands to hundreds of dollars. Green Bay, Wisconsin, was left with more than $33,000 in public safety costs after a Trump rally in April, while the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, has yet to be paid by the Trump campaign after submitting an invoice for $63,190.
Al Jazeera released a similar report in October, finding that the Trump campaign owes the The city of Prescott Valley in Arizona $25,737.32 after he failed to pay the full costs of his rally in 2022. The city of Mesa unsuccessfully invoiced the campaign $64,477.56 for an October 2018 rally.
"Once we learned about the nighttime event at Gateway Airport [in 2018], we took it upon ourselves to implement every measure necessary to secure the area surrounding the airport to keep everyone safe," a Mesa spokesperson told Al Jazeera. "That included setting up temporary parking infrastructure for over 12,000 people, setting up barricades, setting up temporary lighting and hiring a towing company. The invoice we sent the campaign reflects that."
When asked about the unpaid bills, a Trump campaign spokesperson redirected ABC to a U.S. Secret Service spokesperson, who acknowledged the "critical need" for a mechanism to reimburse cities for public safety costs and first responder overtime pay.
"We are grateful for the additional funding provided in the continuing resolution, and we will continue to work with Congress to advocate for the necessary resources to support the city, county, and state law enforcement agencies that assist us every day," the spokesperson told ABC.
