Unpaid Campaign Rally Bills: Trump's Refusal to Pay the City of El Paso and a Pattern of Unpaid Municipal Security Costs
Tier 3Ongoing2019-02-11 to 2026-04-09
Factual Summary
On February 11, 2019, Donald Trump held a campaign rally at the El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas. The event required significant municipal resources, including police overtime, traffic management, and public safety personnel. The City of El Paso billed the Trump campaign $470,000 for security and related expenses. As of April 2026, the campaign has not paid the bill. With accrued late fees of approximately $99,000, the total outstanding amount stands at $569,204.63. The City of El Paso has been attempting to collect the debt since March 27, 2019, and in 2020 hired a law firm to pursue the unpaid balance, but collection efforts have not succeeded.
The El Paso bill is the largest single unpaid municipal invoice but is part of a documented pattern in which Trump campaign rallies left cities with unreimbursed security and public safety costs. NBC News confirmed that at least four cities and one county were still waiting for the Trump campaign to pay bills associated with rally events as of 2024, with combined outstanding debts exceeding $750,000.
Other cities with documented unpaid bills include St. Cloud, Minnesota, which is owed $208,935.17 for overtime pay for first responders and road construction relocation to accommodate a motorcade for a July rally, and Mesa, Arizona, which reported approximately $65,000 in unpaid law enforcement costs from an October 2018 Trump visit.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, also reported unpaid rally costs. The Center for Public Integrity documented the pattern across multiple cities and campaign cycles, noting that the Trump campaign's position was that it should not be responsible for security costs that are the ordinary responsibility of local governments.
The Trump campaign has argued that security for presidential and campaign events is the responsibility of the Secret Service and local law enforcement, not the campaign, and that no campaign of either party routinely reimburses cities for these costs. However, multiple cities have noted that they invoiced the campaign directly for costs that exceeded normal event security requirements, including extended police deployments and infrastructure modifications specific to the Trump rallies.
Primary Sources
1. City of El Paso invoices to the Trump campaign, totaling $569,204.63, beginning March 27, 2019
2. City of El Paso legal correspondence with the Trump campaign regarding unpaid bills
3. Municipal records from St. Cloud, Minnesota; Mesa, Arizona; and other cities documenting unpaid rally costs
Corroborating Sources
1. NBC News: "Cities seek more than $750K in unpaid bills for Trump campaign events since 2016," October 2024
2. Texas Tribune: "The Trump campaign still owes El Paso more than $500,000 for 2019 rally," November 19, 2020
3. Center for Public Integrity: "Trump campaign still hasn't paid El Paso police bills," 2020
4. Al Jazeera: "Trump US rallies leave behind unpaid dues, again and again," October 21, 2024
5. Newsweek: "Trump Set to Leave Office with at Least $850,000 of Unpaid Campaign Rally Bills," January 2021
6. El Paso News: "El Paso City Council To Revisit Donald Trump Half-A-Million Debt To Taxpayers," February 23, 2026
Counterarguments and Context
The Trump campaign's position has been that campaign events receive Secret Service protection as a function of the candidate's status, and that local law enforcement costs for events attended by major political figures are a normal expense of municipal governance, not a campaign obligation. Campaign officials have argued that no presidential campaign of either party routinely reimburses cities for police and security costs associated with rallies. Defenders note that cities regularly absorb costs for large public events, including concerts, sporting events, and visits by other political figures. Some cities confirmed that they do not routinely bill campaigns for security costs. Critics responded that the Trump campaign was specifically invoiced by multiple cities that determined the rally costs exceeded the scope of normal event security, that the campaign's refusal to pay after receiving formal invoices constitutes a pattern of nonpayment rather than a principled policy position, and that the cumulative unpaid amounts represent a transfer of campaign costs to local taxpayers. The Center for Public Integrity noted that the pattern is consistent with Trump's broader documented history of nonpayment to contractors, vendors, and service providers.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 3 because the unpaid bills are documented through municipal records, official invoices, and public reporting by the affected cities. The City of El Paso's debt remains outstanding as of 2026, representing more than seven years of nonpayment. The entry documents the pattern across multiple cities to establish that the El Paso case is not an isolated incident but part of a repeated practice.