St. Cloud Mayor-elect Jake Anderson said there is not much more the city can do to compel Donald Trump’s presidential campaign to pay a $209,000 bill from his summer rally in St. Cloud.
The bill remains unpaid after two invoices were sent to the campaign.
“We’re kind of limited in our recourse,” Anderson said. “Being candid, one of the fears that I have is if we push it too aggressively, suddenly any federal aid we may get and other things may start falling apart. I’m only (saying) that on a good hunch.”
Since Trump wasn’t in office at the time of the July 27 campaign rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center at SCSU, it was not considered an elected official visit.
“I know there are citizens that have asked about it, I’ve been asked about this,” Anderson said about the unpaid Trump bill. “I understand the frustration, there was a certain cost the city spent. Obviously, those people came to town, there was a number of them, and they spent money in our community, so it’s not like we didn’t recoup some costs.
“But it’s a lesson learned in terms of how we can do things in the future.”
More than 8,000 people attended the rally at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on the campus of St. Cloud State University while a large crowd gathered outside in sweltering heat. Nearly a dozen people were taken to the St. Cloud Hospital on the day of the rally with heat-related illnesses.
According to an invoice, the rally cost the city nearly $209,000 in services, including police, public services, a road construction change order, the fire department and information technology systems.
The Trump campaign said in October that the city fees associated with the rally are the responsibility of the Secret Service. In response, the Secret Service said that the agency lacks a mechanism to reimburse state and local governments for support during protective events.
The Trump campaign paid SCSU a $35,000 rental fee.
Despite Harris winning Minnesota’s 10 electoral college votes on Nov. 5, Trump claimed 62% of votes in Stearns County. Trump, who defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, will be sworn in on Monday.
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