Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to better explain what El Paso County Republican Chair Michael Aboud told ABC-7. We originally said Aboud said the Trump campaign should pay back the city of El Paso, but that O’Rourke should’ve paid more. But Aboud later told ABC-7 that he said that the Trump campaign should only pay the quote before O’Rourke announced his event. He said when O’Rourke announced his event, Trump was also charged for that event. ABC-7 asked Aboud what the original quote was. He said he was going to look into. We also reached out to the City of El Paso about that original quote.<\/p>\n
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA)– President Trump’s campaign is going on a seven year half a million debt owed to the City of El Paso after a 2019 campaign visit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to an invoice obtained by ABC-7 dating back to 2019, the city of El Paso spent more than $470,000 when then-President Donald Trump visited the city that year.<\/p>\n
Records show the airport, police and fire departments accounted for the bulk of the costs, primarily for safety and security services tied to the visit.<\/p>\n
When the city did not receive payment, officials added a one-time late fee, bringing the total owed to $569,204.63.<\/p>\n
District 7 City Rep. Lily Lim\u00f3n has placed an item on next week\u2019s City Council agenda requesting quarterly updates on efforts to collect the outstanding balance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all pay our bills, or we should all be paying our bills,\u201d Lim\u00f3n said.<\/p>\n
Her proposal calls for the city manager and city attorney to provide quarterly reports to the mayor and City Council detailing the status of the debt, including how often invoices are sent and what steps are taken when payment is not received.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has happened since the last invoicing to the campaign? We can look at that data. We can also look at, well, how often are you billing? How long do you bill? Do you give up after 30 days? Do you give up after 90, 120? What is the process for that?\u201d Lim\u00f3n said.<\/p>\n
Lim\u00f3n said the city could put the money to use if it is recovered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout $600,000 in a community that is strapped for money, that we really don\u2019t have the ability to go off and do crazy projects or big things,\u201d she said. \u201cIt only stands to reason that if we can get this money back, it\u2019d be a success story for our community.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Lim\u00f3n said she is not counting on repayment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a betting person. He does an excellent job of shaming people, and he needs to accept the responsibility that his campaign has not paid the citizens of El Paso for the services that were rendered to him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
According to the City of El Paso’s spokeswoman: “The Trump campaign has not submitted any payments for their debt.\u00a0The El Paso City Council unanimously took action in November 2020, to hire the Law Offices of Snapper L. Carr to advocate in the City\u2019s interest in the collection of the outstanding invoices. The City continues to seek the payment of these past due expenses, so City taxpayers do not continue have to bear the cost.”<\/p>\n