sa国际传媒官网网页入口

Donald Trump鈥檚 campaign wanted to hold a New Mexico campaign rally this week at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Convention Center.

But the former president鈥檚 campaign had to ultimately settle for a different venue.

Ray Roa, general manager for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Convention Center, confirmed Monday that Trump staffers reached out to try and rent the convention center.

In a statement, Roa said the date didn鈥檛 work as there is remediation work scheduled to the city鈥檚 main water line that runs to the convention center over a three-day period this week. He said the work has been planned since late September when the issue was first identified.

A spokesperson for sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Mayor Tim Keller said Monday the city supports the convention center and the 鈥渂usiness decisions they make about operations and bookings.鈥�

City Council President Dan Lewis said he doesn鈥檛 buy that explanation.

Lewis, who represents a traditionally Republican voting council district, questioned why the work on the water line needed to take place this week. He said the former president could have safely pulled off an indoor rally in Downtown sa国际传媒官网网页入口.

鈥淛ust think about it, they just did Madison Square Garden in downtown Manhattan, right in the heart of the city of New York,鈥� Lewis said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason why we couldn鈥檛.鈥�

He also said the mayor 鈥� who served in state office as a Democrat 鈥� is trying to block the rally.

鈥淯nfortunately, the city of sa国际传媒官网网页入口 has an extremely partisan mayor, a pawn to the Democrat Party, playing a political game with a presidential candidate. It鈥檚 likely that Tim Keller put the city at risk of serious election interference,鈥� Lewis said in a text to the Journal.

Keller administration officials accused Lewis of politically-driven actions.

鈥淚t鈥檚 highly inappropriate that a city councilor tried to cancel a Convention Center construction project and pressure staff for political gain,鈥� said Alex Bukoski, a spokesperson for the city鈥檚 general services department.

For his part, Roa said he was not told by the mayor or any other elected officials to deny the campaign鈥檚 inquiry.

The rally is instead slated to take place Thursday at noon at a private hangar owned by CSI Aviation near the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 International Sunport, according to Trump鈥檚 campaign website. The president of CIA Aviation is former state Republican Party chairman Allen Weh, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2014.

The Trump campaign announced the rally on Sunday. The former president鈥檚 visit will mark his first stop in New Mexico during this year鈥檚 general election cycle.

Democrat Kamala Harris has not made any stops this year in the state, which has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 2004.

Trump鈥檚 last visit to sa国际传媒官网网页入口

Trump previously held a May 2016 rally at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Convention Center that prompted raucous protests and property damage Downtown.

When Trump later returned to New Mexico 鈥� as president 鈥� for a September 2019 rally in Rio Rancho, he spent a night in sa国际传媒官网网页入口.

That led city leaders to send the Trump campaign a bill for $211,175.94 to cover police coverage, barricades and lost work time, since the U.S. Secret Service required City Hall and other buildings to be temporarily closed.

But the Trump campaign never paid that bill.

Meanwhile, when President Joe Biden visited sa国际传媒官网网页入口 in November 2022, the Democratic National Committee paid the $1,000 tab for the rental of the Ted M. Gallegos Community Center to hold a political rally.

Lewis called the bill from sa国际传媒官网网页入口 鈥渇rivolous鈥� and 鈥渂ogus鈥� and said the city didn鈥檛 publicly bill other notable politicians, like Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris.

A breakdown of the charges from Trump鈥檚 2019 rally in Rio Rancho lists $71,242.07 for police services, $7,102.22 for barricades and $132,831.65 for employee leave, amounting to $211,175.94

With compounded interest, the current balance for the Trump campaign鈥檚 unpaid bills in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 comes to $444,986, said Staci Drangmeister, a spokeswoman for the mayor鈥檚 office.

鈥淭he city had to shut down Downtown and close City Hall back in 2019 when Trump came to sa国际传媒官网网页入口,鈥� Drangmeister told the Journal. 鈥淭he city still paid the employees for the hours they did not work, which totaled $132,831.65.鈥�

Drangmeister also said the city has billed campaigns that demand extra time and equipment, but generally does not charge dignitaries who are visiting in an official capacity.

As for the outstanding bill, Keller said Monday the city would continue to seek collection.

鈥淭rump still owes sa国际传媒官网网页入口 half a million dollars and collections will keep reminding him about it until he pays,鈥� the mayor said in a statement.

Meanwhile, sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos on Monday referred questions about security for Trump鈥檚 latest visit to the U.S. Secret Service.

The city of Rio Rancho did not seek reimbursement from Trump for his 2019 rally, citing a cost estimate of $239,475.

Some cities requiring upfront payments

Other cities have also sought to charge the Trump campaign for costs associated with campaign rallies, including Tucson, Arizona.

While campaigning in 2016, Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. 鈥� who was vying for the Democratic nomination that year 鈥� racked up bills that their campaigns refused to pay.

Andy Squire, a spokesman for the city of Tucson, said the Trump and Sanders campaign rallies generated much higher costs than other events due to their public safety implications. The city billed the Sanders campaign about $44,000 and billed the Trump campaign roughly $81,000, he added.

鈥淭hat was true not just for us in Tucson, but was the experience across the nation,鈥� Squire said in a statement. 鈥淎s a result, many cities incurred significant unreimbursed costs associated with providing public safety at these events.鈥�

The city now requires the campaign to pay in advance. Trump has held multiple rallies in Tucson since, one as recent as September.