El Paso says Trump campaign owes city over $500K for February rally
President Trump’s reelection campaign has yet to pay El Paso more than $500,000 for police and public safety services tied to a February rally, a city official said Monday.
Laura Cruz-Acosta, communications manager for the city manager’s office, told The Texas Tribune that the Trump campaign owes the city $569,204.63 for services El Paso provided for a rally during which the president focused on building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
{mosads}“The city staff have followed the process and procedures as it relates to any invoicing that we provide, and we will continue to do so accordingly as per city and state policies,” Cruz-Acosta told the news outlet.
The Center for Public Integrity first reported the outstanding amount and accompanying invoice.
The debt has come under renewed scrutiny following a mass shooting in El Paso over the weekend that has led to at least 22 deaths. Trump declared on Monday that the Texas border city would receive “all the support of the federal government.”
Trump plans to visit the city on Wednesday. Some Democrats, including 2020 presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, have said Trump should not come to El Paso.
Cruz-Acosta said the campaign initially owed the city $470,417.05. The city later increased the amount by 21 percent after the campaign failed to make a payment by a June deadline.
The city manager’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump and O’Rourke, a former Texas congressman, held dueling rallies in El Paso in February as the president ramped up his efforts for a border wall.
The El Paso Times reported in June that the Trump campaign had owed the city about $470,000 for services it provided to him during his campaign rally. The invoice included assistance from six city departments, including the fire, health, aviation and police departments.
“It shows a lack of concern for the community and the tax paying voters of El Paso,” city Rep. Alexsandra Annello told the newspaper at the time. “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.”
O’Rourke compensated the city around its May 24 deadline, paying about $21,000.
Updated at 2:04 p.m.
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