When Trump Comes to Town, He Brings Enthusiasm, But Leaves Bills Unpaid • Daily Montanan

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive in Bozeman on Friday at 8 p.m. for a rally at Montana State University's Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. While presidential candidate rallies are known for drawing large crowds and media attention, they also pose numerous logistical and technical challenges.

Large political gatherings like this are not common, said Montana State University spokesman Mike Becker, adding that the last time the Fieldhouse hosted a political gathering of this size was during Obama's visit in 2008. “We're using the same processes for working on the logistics of the event, but it will be unique to work with the Secret Service.”

For the Secret Service, the indoor venue is a welcome change from Trump's typically outdoor rally sites, but indoor venues located in the heart of cities rather than at the airport, as Trump so often prefers, require far more security precautions and coordination.

Logistics

Trump’s September 6, 2018, rally in Billings at MetraPark, for example, required a multitude of security measures, including protection, crowd control, and traffic management. According to 2018 press releases from the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office and the Billings Police Department, additional assistance was also required from outside agencies, including the Montana Highway Patrol, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, the Laurel Police Department, and the Rosebud County and Carbon County Sheriff’s Offices. Even Billings public works employees were called upon to use large municipal vehicles to help block off two blocks of downtown Billings for nearly 20 hours.

“It’s usually an all-hands-on-deck situation,” said Lt. Matt Lennick, public information officer for the Billings Police Department. “We work closely with the Secret Service and usually have to bring in extra personnel because at the same time, we still have to monitor our calls for service and respond to calls around the city. It’s pretty complex for our department and costly because of the amount of overtime and things like that.”

That cost can add up quickly, and for many municipalities, it’s often impossible to predict in advance what that cost will be. As Billings Police Chief St. John told the Billings Gazette in 2018, ahead of Trump’s rally in Billings, “We won’t have any idea what it’s going to cost (Trump’s visit) until we get the final bill.”

And that's something that can't be included in a budget plan.

“I've never seen a situation where we knew in advance, in a budget year, that we were going to have a visit because candidates don't release their programs that far in advance. My understanding is that we normally get back whatever we can,” Lennick said.

Years later, the Billings Police Department is still trying to recoup those costs.

The taxpayer's burden

The Trump campaign has a history of failing to keep up with its security bills. According to a 2019 report from the Center for Public Integrity, Trump owed more than $840,000 to various municipalities, and likely more, since the Trump campaign does not recognize any of those municipalities as debt on its federal campaign finance disclosures.

In Billings, protective measures put in place for its September 2018 rally resulted in an additional 1,362 hours of work between Billings police and the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office: 951 hours for the former and 411 hours for the latter, bringing the total cost to $58,830.

While the Yellowstone Sheriff's Office did not bill the Trump campaign for the $12,930 it incurred — a standard practice the office follows for all political campaigns — the Billings PD did, and as of this article's publication, that $45,900 bill remains unpaid.

Earlier that year, Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump Jr. also stopped in Billings. The vice president spoke at a public rally on July 25, also at MetraPark, hosted by America First Policies. Donald Trump Jr. spoke at the Republican convention in Billings on June 22.

According to an internal memo sent to the city council on September 13, 2018, Vice President Mike Pence’s visit on July 25 required 647.50 hours of overtime, for a total of $31,200. Donald Trump Jr.’s visit required $5,000 in overtime, bringing the total amount spent by the Billings Police Department alone on security for Trump’s campaign rallies in Billings in 2018 to $82,100.

Billings isn’t alone. Missoula County commissioners also sent the Trump campaign a bill in 2018 for nearly $13,000 in public safety personnel costs. The county requested $10,835.41 for officer salaries, $1,059.26 for dispatcher salaries, $693.72 for Office of Emergency Management salaries and $334.43 for miscellaneous expenses. That bill also hasn’t been paid, according to Missoula County Communications Manager Allison Franz.

Some municipalities, such as Great Falls, are not submitting payment requests, preferring to cover the costs out of their own budgets. The Great Falls Tribune reported that Trump’s visit to Great Falls on July 5 cost the city, Cascade County and the Montana Highway Patrol a total of $57,236, none of which was submitted for payment to the Trump campaign.

In total, in 2018 alone, the Trump campaign cost various city and state departments — whether they billed reimbursements and weren't paid, or never billed at all — at least $150,000 in taxpayer money.

“It's a very significant budget,” Lennick said. “It's not something that's in our original budget and we plan for every year.”

A different ball game

Trump's rallies, while similar in size to those of other candidates, consistently have higher security costs. For one thing, he is a former president, which implies an extra layer of security compared to other candidates.

For example, Trump’s October rally in Missoula drew about 8,000 attendees and cost Missoula County nearly $13,000, while Bernie Sanders’ 2016 rally drew 9,000 attendees and the mayor’s spokeswoman told NBC Montana that the cost to the city was minimal, amounting to just five hours of paid overtime by police. The rest of the cost was covered by the Secret Service.

Trump rallies are also known for large crowds of protesters, posing an additional security concern for all parties involved.

“It’s important that your local sheriff be the one to deal with the protesters because we know these people,” Cascade County Sheriff Jesse Slaughter said, adding that no matter the cost, law enforcement will always be ready to do the job. As local law enforcement, it is our duty to protect our election process and keep our community safe when candidates and presidents run.

The total cost for Gallatin has yet to be determined. Sheriff Dan Springer declined requests for comment, and Bozeman communications and engagement specialist Allison Killip referred all questions about potential costs to the Trump campaign.

It is unclear whether the assassination attempt at Trump's rally in Pennsylvania on July 13 will lead to increased security costs.

However, Montana State University will receive at least some money up front.

Fieldhouse tenants must pay a deposit, university spokesman Mike Becker said, that is the first day's cost, $3,250. If they cancel, they will have to pay $6,500.

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