Siren: New Hampshire town eats Trump security bills while Haley pays local police

Another small town’s taxpayers have footed the bill for a political visit from former President Donald Trump.

This time: Concord, N.H., the Granite State’s capital city.

Nine members of the Concord Police Department and four members of the Concord Fire Department supported Trump’s visit to Concord on June 27 for the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women’s Lilac Luncheon, according to payroll documents that Raw Story obtained through a New Hampshire Right to Know law request.

The total cost: $3,778.85.

“The Fire Department did not charge or receive any funds to/from the Trump campaign or the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women,” wrote John Chisholm, fire chief for the Concord Fire Department, in an email to Raw Story.

John Thomas, deputy chief for the Concord Police Department, also confirmed “there were no charges to either group.”

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Even if he wasn’t billed, Trump could have voluntarily paid the costs for his visit to the town with less than 45,000 residents according to a 2022 estimate from the U.S. Census. But not doing so is in character for Trump, whose presidential campaign has racked up five- and six-figure public safety bills in cities across the country.

By contrast, some Republican and Democratic candidates alike have picked up the costs for their campaign visits over the years. This includes one of Trump’s opponents for the Republican presidential nomination, former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

The Haley campaign paid $1,722 total to six New Hampshire police departments throughout July and August, according to a Raw Story analysis of Haley’s latest quarterly campaign finance report to the Federal Election Commission.

Neither the Trump nor the Haley campaigns responded to Raw Story’s request for comment. The New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women also could not be reached for comment.

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Trump, the hands-down frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has maintained an active campaign schedule as he faces 91 felony charges across four indictments.

“This is a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time. That’s all it is, and its primary purpose is election interference, and we’re not going to let this election be stolen from us,” said Trump at the June 27 event in Concord. “This is a form of rigging the election because they rigged the presidential election in 2020, and we’re not going to allow them to rig the presidential election of 2024.”

Trump is scheduled to return Monday to New Hampshire to deliver remarks at the New England Sports Center in Derry, N.H.

Trump visits often cost small-town taxpayers

Presidential candidates are free to use campaign funds to contribute to public safety efforts tied to their visits.

But Trump, in particular, is known for avoiding paying for public safety costs related to his speaking engagements, despite fashioning himself as a “law and order” candidate who considers police officers “heroes”.

Even after municipal governments have either threatened or even taken legal action to compel Trump to help defray unexpected police, fire and traffic control costs prompted by his signature MAGA campaign rallies, Trump’s campaign has refused to pay.

From Haley to far-right Republican Ted Cruz to far-left Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, some presidential candidates have in recent years voluntarily paid public safety bills using campaign money, even when they weren’t obligated.

The cost of Trump visits has made some towns question whether it’s worth it for them to host such events. In Greensboro, N.C., a city councilwoman asked about reimbursement for the $45,000 in security costs for the North Carolina Republican Party Convention where Trump and other Republican presidential candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence spoke.

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“In a time where we are so short handed, and OT budgets are limited, we need to figure out if the [Convention and Visitors Bureau] should still be recruiting these events to Greensboro, or if they cost us too much,” Tammi Thurm, a councilwoman for the City of Greensboro, said in an email to the city’s police chief and assistant city manager which Raw Story received through a public records request.

Other cities are still trying to get Trump to pay bills for past events. Among them: Erie, Pa.

Officials there are working to get Trump to pay for a $35,129.27 bill from 2018 for overtime pay that city workers, including police officers, earned for covering his previous rally. When he came to town in late July, the city tried billing him upfront for $5,200 for police overtime costs, Raw Story reported.

When Trump first didn’t pay his 2018 bill in Erie, the Center for Public Integrity reported that Trump had not only stiffed Erie but also hadn’t paid $841,219 total to various city governments. The campaign’s unpaid bills grew to nearly $2 million by December 2020, Insider reported.

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Cities including Minneapolis and El Paso, Texas, have threatened or pursued legal action against the Trump campaign to no avail.

And some other cities are still footing the bill to protect Trump, his supporters and the community, writ large. Among them:

Manchester, N.H., where 35 officers supported a Trump hotel rally on April 27 — clocking in 216.5 hours of overtime that cost an estimated $12,870 — for which the city government covered the costs, according to records obtained by Raw Story.

And Novi, Mich., where a June 25 visit cost the city’s taxpayers nearly $7,000 in police overtime costs. The Secret Service requested and did not pay for an additional 23 officers, according to Sheryl Walsh, director of communications for the City of Novi.

“Whoever asks for the help, especially when the Secret Service asks you, you don't say no,” Walsh said.

In recent months, city governments have taken note of Trump’s debts and used creative techniques to ensure Trump pays up front.

They include Waco, Texas, where the Trump campaign settled up a $60,714.27 bill for a March rally on city property.