Minneapolis still hasn't finalized bill for Trump rally costs
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - More than three weeks after the City of Minneapolis tried to force President Donald Trump’s campaign to pre-pay $530,000 for security costs at a downtown rally, the city still hasn’t sent anyone a bill.
“The city is still calculating the city costs associated with the president’s political rally. We should have more on that in a couple weeks,” said Casper Hill, a spokesman for Minneapolis city government.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had demanded that Trump’s campaign pay in advance for policing and public works changes required for the Oct. 10 event. Trump’s campaign refused, and the rally happened anyway.
In contrast to the public battle over the cost of securing Trump’s event, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and the University of Minnesota appeared to strike an agreement before Sanders’ campaign rally on campus Sunday night.
Sanders’ campaign said it would pay costs agreed to with the university for the use of Williams Arena. The school has not publicly released the total cost of the event.
The bill will likely be significantly less than for Trump’s rally, because of the smaller crowd and lack of protesters outside.
The university did not request outside assistance for the Sanders event, and Minneapolis Police said they did not provide extra security outside of normal patrols.
The school will bill the Sanders campaign, said Jake Ricker, a university spokesman.
Ricker said such bills typically include a facility rental fee, event security (staff and equipment rental), event staff, police, EMTs, production staff, technology rental, custodial staff, and reserved parking.
"We pay all costs that are agreed to as a condition of the permit at a particular venue,” Joe Calvello, a Sanders campaign spokesman, said in an email before Sunday’s rally.
Taxpayers are routinely forced to cover the cost of securing political rallies because Trump’s campaign and others often leave cities holding the bill.
In 2016, the campaigns of Trump, Sanders and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton did not pay for some municipalities’ security costs.
Frey cited that as his reason to pursue reimbursement from Trump’s campaign before the Oct. 10 rally. He specifically requested $400,000 for Minneapolis Police overtime and $130,000 for public works changes, including barricades and street closures.
But Target Center’s operator, AEG Worldwide, backed down when the issue exploded into the national spotlight.
About 20,000 Trump supporters attended the rally, while a smaller protest happened on the street outside. As the speech wore on, the protest turned chaotic before Minneapolis Police could restore order.
Despite Frey’s initial estimate, city staff have not billed either AEG or the Trump campaign after nearly a month.