As Trump visits El Paso, his campaign still owes the city over $500K for rally costs

Nicholas Wu and Nate Chute

WASHINGTON – As President Donald Trump visits El Paso, Texas, in the wake of a mass shooting that left at least 22 people dead, his re-election campaign still owes the city of El Paso over $500,000 in costs stemming from his February rally in the city.

Trump rallied in El Paso on Feb. 11 to advocate for the border wall and increased immigration enforcement.

The city sent the Trump campaign a letter on May 23, asking for the debt to be repaid, but because the Trump campaign failed to repay the debt within 30 days of the letter's issuance, a collection fee now puts the total debt at over $500,000.

"It shows a lack of concern for the community and the taxpaying voters of El Paso," said city Rep. Alexsandra Annello in June. "President Trump has in many ways, over the last year, put a financial burden on this community and has yet to show us the respect we deserve. It is clear that our borderland is not a priority of the president."

The costs, as shown in invoices obtained by The El Paso Times:

  • Department of Aviation cost, $6,286.57

  • Fire Department cost, $60,630.84

  • Health Department cost, $528

  • Streets and Maintenance department cost, $6,452

  • Sun Metro costs, $15,577.52

  • Police Department cost, $380,942.12

  • Total of $470,417.05

El Paso city officials say they may resort to other methods like taking advantage of sales tax revenues or collecting on $400,000 in back taxes from a businessman's bankruptcy to cover the deficit in the city's finances created by the high costs of securing the Trump rally.

More: Beto O'Rourke pays bill for El Paso rally, Donald Trump still owes $470,000

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Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas, held a rally in El Paso on the same day as Trump's February visit, but O'Rourke's campaign repaid the city for costs associated with his rally.

It's not unusual for presidential campaigns to have outstanding debts for rallies with cities. Various cities called on Trump and current Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to pay bills for rallies during the 2016 election cycle, according to the Center for Public Integrity.

The Center reported at least three-dozen municipal governments and law enforcement agencies said presidential campaigns ignored hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding bills for security during the last presidential election.

The center also reported that local officials often can't force campaigns to pay their debts unless they sign formal agreements with campaigns.

Contributing: Nate Chute and Aaron Montes, The El Paso Times

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump visit El Paso: Campaign owes city over $500K for rally costs