ST. CLOUD — St. Cloud Mayor-elect Jake Anderson said there is not much more the city can do to compel the Donald Trump presidential campaign to pay a $209,000 bill from his summer rally in St. Cloud.
The bill remains unpaid after two invoices were sent to the campaign.
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“We’re kind of limited in our recourse,” Anderson told St. Cloud LIVE. “Being candid, one of the fears that I have is if we push it too aggressively, suddenly any federal aid we may get and other things may start falling apart. I’m only (saying) that on a good hunch.”
Since Trump wasn’t in office at the time of the July 27 campaign rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center at SCSU, it was not considered an elected official visit. The city has safeguards in place for official visits including the 2023 stop Vice President Kamala Harris made to visit New Flyer, Anderson said. He added the city did not charge for services provided during the Harris visit.
“I know there are citizens that have asked about it, I’ve been asked about this,” Anderson said about the unpaid Trump bill. “I understand the frustration, there was a certain cost the city spent. Obviously, those people came to town, there was a number of them, and they spent money in our community, so it’s not like we didn’t recoup some costs.
“But it’s a lesson learned in terms of how we can do things in the future.”
More than 8,000 people attended the rally at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center while a large crowd gathered outside in sweltering heat. Nearly a dozen people were taken to CentraCare — St. Cloud Hospital on the day of the rally with heat-related illnesses.
According to an invoice, the rally cost the city nearly $209,000 in services, including police, public services, a road construction change order, the fire department and information technology systems.
The Trump campaign told St. Cloud LIVE in October that the city fees associated with the rally are the responsibility of the Secret Service. In response, Secret Service spokesperson Nate Herring told St. Cloud LIVE that the agency lacks a mechanism, to reimburse state and local governments for support during protective events.
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The Trump campaign paid St. Cloud State University a $35,000 rental fee.
Despite Harris winning Minnesota’s 10 electoral college votes on Nov. 5, Trump claimed 62% of votes in Stearns County. President-elect Trump's second inauguration is Monday, Jan. 20.
A look at the bill
The city of St. Cloud’s $208,935.17 invoice to the Donald J. Trump for President 2024 Inc. campaign breaks down like this:
- $63,267.81: Police department
- $60,510.07: Public services
- $61,878.84: Construction change order of University Drive
- $21,420.74: Fire department
- $1,857.71: IT department
Source: City of St. Cloud
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