Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller is still expecting former President Donald Trump to pay up for the cost a 2019 rally cost the city ahead of his return on Thursday.
With less than a week left until the election, Trump will be spending part of the Halloween holiday in Albuquerque’s Sunport hanger for a rally. Keller used the event to remind the campaign that he believes they still owe the city more than $200,000 from Trump’s previous rally in Rio Ranch, 17 miles away. Keller claimed that it cost the city 1,528 hours of additional police coverage in addition to the barricades and building closures requested by the Secret Service.
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“No more freebies for Trump’s Halloween visit tomorrow, time to pay up the half million dollars you owe ABQ,” Keller wrote on X. This new total is seemingly taking Thursday’s event into account.
New Mexico did not go to Trump in 2020 or 2016, and currently, three Democratic incumbents are in the House and one in the Senate defending their seats. However, former Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell is attempting to win back her former seat in the second district. Herrell received Trump’s endorsement earlier this summer.
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St. Cloud, Minnesota, attempted a similar reimbursement request, asking for about $209,000 in city services used for a July rally. Erie, Pennsylvania, claims the campaign owes more than $40,000 for the rallies he held there in 2018 and 2023, while El Paso, Texas, is also looking to be reimbursed for more than $569,200 in expenses from a 2019 visit. Minneapolis, Minnesota, has requested $530,000 in overtime and expenses after a 2019 event.
St. Cloud State University officials received a $35,000 fee that they charged the Trump campaign to rent their facility. Additionally, Minneapolis received around $100,000 more than a year after the rally.