When former U.S. President Donald Trump dines in St. Paul with the state’s Republican leaders on Friday evening, protesters from a cross-section of progressive organizations are expected to take to downtown Kellogg Boulevard to give a thumbs down to his motorcade.

They may well be met, in turn, with a thumbs down from counter-protesters.

So who gets the bill for policing, road closure and public safety?

The answer, more so than not, is local taxpayers. The city is not planning to bill the Trump campaign — or protesters — for costs related to the former president’s campaign appearance.

“We welcome people from around the world when concerts, festivals, professional sports, conventions and more decide they want to host an event within St. Paul,” said Jennifer Lor, a press secretary to St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, on Thursday. “We assist in providing public safety services, whether for a current vice president, a former president or the Dalai Lama and these costs are part of normal business operations.”

Minneapolis visit in 2019

The last time Trump flew into the Twin Cities for a campaign event in 2019, Minneapolis officials worried they’d be stuck with the estimated $530,000 bill for security, road closures and the like.

After lengthy wrangling with the Trump campaign and Target Center operator ASM Global, it turns out Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey’s people had it mostly right — local taxpayers swallowed the majority of those expenses.

ASM agreed in 2021, some two years after the fact, to reimburse Minneapolis $100,000, or less than 20% of the city’s costs and about half of what city officials figured they could ask for under the law.

St. Paul police spokesman Mike Ernster said he didn’t know what the cost would be for the former president’s visit but noted security “requests … are part of what police departments do as a course of normal business.”

When Vice President Kamala Harris came to St. Paul on March 14 to visit an abortion clinic and stop by Central High for softball practice, security costs involving officers on duty and off, as well as overtime, came to $7,717, according to Ernster.

In March, the Humphrey-Mondale dinner at the RiverCentre, hosted by the state DFL and attended by both U.S. senators, the governor and other politicians, cost taxpayers $11,301 for policing outside of the facility. Officers working inside the RiverCentre were paid by the organizers, Ernster said.

“It is also important to remember that staffing numbers, which lead directly to staffing costs, are always unique to the political and social climate,” he said.

Law enforcement officers struggle to keep a gate closed as marchers attempt to breach a secure area outside the Landmark Center during the Veterans’ Solemn Memorial March on the RNC in St. Paul on Sunday Aug. 31, 2008. (Pioneer Press: Richard Marshall)

When St. Paul hosted the Republican National Convention in 2008 — drawing nearly 2,400 party delegates and an estimated 12,000 protesters — the city received a $50 million federal grant for expenses, similar to what other cities got for conventions. About $34 million was for personnel costs while $16 million paid for training, equipment and supplies. The upside of it for local police was the additional equipment stayed with the city.

Fundraising dinner in St. Paul

The former president is scheduled to attend the Minnesota GOP’s annual Lincoln Reagan fundraising dinner on Friday, which coincides with the party’s state convention, to be held at the St. Paul RiverCentre Friday and Saturday. St. Paul Police and Fire, the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office and other local departments are poised to assist the U.S. Secret Service with security, but it’s unclear how large that bill will be.

Trump has not announced a campaign rally, per se. Still, given the experience of at least 14 cities that have tried and failed to secure funds from the Trump campaign after a major appearance, some have little doubt that St. Paul taxpayers will absorb not only the bulk of the cost of protecting the former president this weekend, but the cost of standing between event-goers, protesters and counter-protesters.

Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher on Wednesday said he did not know how his office will be reimbursed for his deputies’ work. The county sheriff’s office will provide traffic management for Trump’s motorcade and will be available as backup to St. Paul officers if there’s need for additional assistance.

“Our first concern is the safety of everyone” attending the event, protesting or counter-protesting, Fletcher said. “People can sort out the finances later.”

Costs for visits elsewhere

David Levinthal, editor-in-chief of the progressive publication Raw Story, said that over the years, at least 14 cities — including Minneapolis, Mesa, Arizona and Lebanon, Ohio — have tried to recoup security dollars out of the Trump campaign without success. El Paso, Texas was left with a $470,000 bill after Trump’s February 2019 border rally, so city officials there hired a legal team to help them seek reimbursement.

NJ.com reported this week that Wildwood, New Jersey made the Trump campaign pre-pay $54,000 in April, well in advance of a May 11 beach rally, four years after being stuck with the bill for policing and clean-up after a Trump rally at the Wildwood Convention Center.

In late 2020, when the city of Philadelphia complained that then-candidate Joe Biden’s campaign rally had drawn dozens of cars into a muddy public park after a rainstorm, causing at least $10,000 in damage, the Biden campaign produced a check for $15,000 within about a month to cover expenses.

Minnesota could prove to be a key battleground for both Trump and President Biden in November, so public interest in a Trump appearance will be high.

“When a president comes to town, St. Paul is going to be an international news story,” said Larry Jacobs, a professor of political science at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. “It’s a unique thing. There’s nothing else that is going to bring St. Paul that kind of attention.”

Nevertheless, said Jacobs, “reimbursement is not going to be in the game. … Even when the president comes, there’s not much reimbursement.”

Mara Gottfried contributed to this report.

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