‘Half a million short’: Trump’s history of not paying cities for campaign stops

During a campaign stop in New Mexico, Donald Trump used the final moments of the 2024 election to continue spreading false claims, telling voters the previous two presidential votes in the state were “rigged.”

Albuquerque officials, meanwhile, were worried about a different count: the roughly $445,000 they say the Trump campaign still owes for a 2019 visit.

Ahead of the former president’s visit to the state, mayor Tim Keller said part of the reason the Albuquerque Convention Center turned down a Trump campaign request to use it for Thursday’s rally was because of the remaining bill.

“With anyone who wants to use any [city-owned] facility … you can’t have money owed to the city,” Keller said, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. “For us to consider the fact that we’re half a million dollars short is something we would do for any candidate or anyone who wants to rent the convention center in general.”

The Independent has contacted the Trump campaign for comment.

The bill stems from a 2019 rally in nearby Rio Rancho, New Mexico, and includes $71,000 for police services, $7,000 for barricades, and $132,000 for other city resources, according to local station KOAT, a total that’s risen since because of interest.

Local Republicans criticized Keller, arguing the bill claims are a “stupid political game,” given that the city doesn’t historically bill campaigns. City officials told KOAT “We have billed for extreme use of resources and services, such as Trump’s 2019 visit that shut down City Hall and required additional barricading downtown.”

New Mexico isn’t the only place where Trump is allegedly trailing IOUs.

The campaign still owed over $25,000 in Arizona, over $208,000 in Minnesota, and over $65,000 in Washington, Al Jazeera reported last week.

As of early October, the Trump campaign allegedly owed more than $750,000 across five jurisdictions, including Pennsylvania, Texas, Montana, and Arizona, according to an investigation from NBC News.

Part of the problem is that many of the costs related to a campaign visit, especially by a high-profile party frontrunner / former president like Donald Trump, flow from local law enforcement assisting the Secret Service, rather than the campaigns directly.

The Secret Service told NBC it “lacks a mechanism to reimburse local governments for their support during protective events” and has identified this issue as a “critical need” that could be improved with congressional reform.

Trump, who campaigns on the idea that he’s a master dealmaker and successful businessman, has long been accused of stiffing his partners in his business career.

During the 2016 campaign, hundreds of former contractors and employees, including carpenters and dishwashers on various Trump enterprises, said they went unpaid for their work.

Some of the alleged costs are multiple decades old, including from workers on the Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, which opened in 1990.