City of Albuquerque sends Trump campaign $211,000 bill for rally, asks him to ‘pay our taxpayers back’

The city of Albuquerque, N.M., is asking President Trump’s campaign to pay its bill for costs incurred from his visit last month.

In a press release provided to The Hill on Thursday, the city said it sent Trump’s campaign organization, Donald Trump for President, Inc., an invoice totaling $211,175.94. 

The costs stem from police services provided to the campaign to help with Trump’s visit, as well as covering the paid time off it had to provide to city employees who were forced to vacate facilities near Trump during his stay over the course of two workdays.

{mosads}Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller (D) said in a statement that the town’s “resources for law enforcement are critical and limited.”

“The President’s campaign stop in the Albuquerque area cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, including over 1500 hours of police overtime that was required by the campaign,” he continued. “We are asking the Trump campaign to pay our taxpayers back for the costs from his campaign stop.”

The city said it incurred $7,102 for barricades during Trump’s visit and $132,831 in paid time off for city employees. It also said assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department provided during Trump’s campaign visit amounted to $71,242.

Michael Glassner, the chief operating officer of Trump’s campaign organization, responded to the city’s invoice in a statement to The Hill on Thursday, saying “it is the U.S. Secret Service, not the campaign, which coordinates with local law enforcement.”

“The campaign itself does not contract with local governments for police involvement. All billing inquiries should always go to the Secret Service,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the city of Albuquerque responded to Glassner’s comments in a statement to The Hill later on Thursday.

“The cost to the taxpayer was created by the President’s campaign. Taxpayers are on the hook for the thousands of hours of police overtime and other costs incurred, and we are asking the Trump campaign to pay them back,” the spokeswoman said in the statement.

The city said the $211,175 bill is due on November 16, which is 30 days after the invoice was sent to Trump’s campaign.

“Donald Trump for President, Inc. has outstanding bills from at least 10 other cities for campaign stops, including overtime for police departments,” the city added in the release.