City mayor demands Trump settle $35k bill from 2018 before returning for rally this weekend

Trump is returning to Erie to shore up support ahead of 2024 Republican presidential primary

A Pennsylvania city mayor has demanded that Donald Trump reimburse a $35,000 bill from 2018 ahead of his planned return for a campaign rally on Saturday.

Joe Schember, the mayor of the western Pennsylvania city of Erie, told Erie Times-News that their pleas to seek a bill for Mr Trump’s campaign for the rally in October 2018, which attracted a crowd of 12,000 people, have gone unheard nearly for five years.

He said they will try to get an advance payment this time as it is taxpayers’ money being used to fund his rallies.

"I think we have to try, and I feel like my team feels the same way," Mr Schember said.

"We’re going to see whether we can get some payment from them in advance this time. It’s important to do this because we’re talking about taxpayer money being used to help make his visit more safe."

Mr Trump, who appears to be the frontrunner for the Republicans 2024 presidential nomination, is set to return to Erie on Saturday at the Erie Insurance Arena at 6pm ET.

The former president arrived at the same indoor stadium in downtown Erie on 10 October 2018 to hold a Make America Great Again rally for his campaign for Republicans around the country ahead of the 6 November midterm elections.

The city mayor made several unsuccessful attempts to recover the cost incurred by the administration in security arrangement, overtime pay for city workers assigned to cover the event, and other employee-related costs.

Despite the unpaid bill, city officials and the police have begun logistical and staffing preparations for the 2023 event, Mr Schember said.

According to the Federal Election Commission filings, the Trump campaign had more than $35.4m on hand at that time. Mr Schember said they were aware of it and made the formal request for reimbursement but did not hear back.

“Trump has been able to bring in millions of dollars for his campaign,” Mr Schember said. “He should be able to easily pay these costs to cities.”

A local resident of Erie has launched a petition to “ban Trump from Erie until he pays his bill to the city” over his unpaid dues.

Joshua Makowski said the city should not allow “anyone to use city services and not pay their bill” and said Mr Trump should be held accountable for his first bill.

“I would ask city officials to think about what kind of precedent it sets that a high profile individual can come here, use our city services to promote their campaign, and then leave a $40k bill unpaid,” he said.

Erie is not the only city which has complaints of unpaid dues from Trump’s campaign. Similar complaints have been raised in several other cities Mr Trump visited over neglect to cover the additional expenses incurred to ensure safe and well-managed rallies.

Local news station KTSM, headquartered in El Paso, Texas, revealed in November 2022 that the former president’s campaign failed to make any payments for a February 2019 rally held at the El Paso County Coliseum.

The Independent has reached out to the Erie mayor’s and Mr Trump’s offices for comment.