GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has a history of not paying his bills, with Albuquerque the latest municipality left holding the tab by the former president.
The New Mexico city’s mayor, Tim Keller, went public Wednesday about Trump’s debt to the city, saying he owes nearly half a million dollars. The $444,986 bill dates back to 2019, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported, and because of it, Trump was blocked Thursday from using Albuquerque’s convention center and any city-owned facilities.
“We’ve had collection agencies calling and so forth for two years now,” Keller said in an Oct. 30 post on X. “Look, no one likes to be stiffed on a bill.”
Trump held his rally Thursday at CSI Aviation’s private hanger at the Albuquerque International Sunport, where, according to press reports, parking spaces and port-a-johns were scarce.
“Yeah, he’s on the tarmac of an airport because it’s the only place he could get!” said one commenter on X. “Hahahahahahahaha! He tried for the convention center, bro, because the Secret Service wanted him inside. He’s only doing outside gigs because no one will rent him anymore.”
According to Al-Jazeera, Albuquerque joins a long list of cities that have never been reimbursed for providing facilities and/or security for the New York businessman.
Saint Cloud, Minnesota, officials say they’re due a little more than $209,000. El Paso, Texas, nearly $570,000.
Several cities now require the campaign to pay money upfront for services rendered, including Asheville, North Carolina, and Tucson, Arizona, where his campaign still owes more than $81,000 for a 2016 rally.
The Trump campaign hasn’t commented. However, some local officials in Albuquerque say it appears the Republican nominee is being unfairly singled out.
Retired Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Sheriff Darren White called the invoice sent to the campaign “a political prop to get booked on MSNBC.”
“This is the one and only time in history that a presidential campaign has been billed for visiting our city,” he said in comments posted on X.
Former longtime Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez told a local KOB 4 that, during his tenure, city policy was to charge for the use of facilities but never for police protection, like Keller did.
Keller’s office told the station the city has billed campaigns in the past. The KOB 4 Investigator Brittany Costello says it’s rare.
Trump’s bill started growing with interest after a 2019 stop in Rio Rancho.
The city of Albuquerque covered security related to his stay at a downtown Albuquerque hotel in 2019.
Keller says the city paid to shut down streets and close city hall, $7,000 for barricades, $133,000 for city employees and $71,000 for police service.
The mayor’s spokeswoman told the station it has charged campaigns in the past, including President Joe Biden’s campaign rally in 2020 at a Westside Community Center. The bill was a paltry $1,000.
In 2016, a USA Today investigation found, over the course of three decades, 3,500 lawsuits had been filed against Trump alleging unpaid bills and compensation, such as overtime pay.
