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<\/p>\nWhen Donald Trump\u00a0arrives in Texas for an appearance with GOP Gov. Greg Abbott to tour the state\u2019s border, he should bring a check to pay off his campaign\u2019s nearly $570,000 debt to the city of El Paso, a local judge said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been trying to reach out to get the $570,000 from when he had his campaign\u201d rally two years ago, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego told local NBC affiliate KTSM-9 TV earlier this week.<\/p>\n
If Abbott \u201chelps us collect\u201d the money Trump owes, \u201cthat would be real nice,\u201d\u00a0 Samaniego added. (Check out his remarks in the video above.)<\/p>\n
Trump racked up the hefty bill for his\u00a0\u201cMake America Great Again\u201d rally\u00a0on Feb. 11, 2019, at El Paso County Coliseum. Local authorities provided security, transportation, emergency and traffic services, and the bill was due in April that year.<\/p>\n
The Trump campaign hasn\u2019t yet paid a dime. It owes the El Paso police department more than $381,000 alone.\u00a0Michael Glassner, the CEO of Trump\u2019s campaign, told ABC two years ago: \u201cWe are reviewing\u201d the bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows a lack of concern for the community and the tax-paying voters of El Paso,\u201d city Rep. Alexsandra Annello\u00a0told the El Paso Times\u00a0as Trump let the debt twist in the wind. Trump has\u00a0\u201cput a financial burden on this community,\u201d she complained.<\/p>\n
Former Texas Rep.\u00a0Beto O\u2019Rourke\u00a0launched his own presidential campaign in El Paso the same day as the 2019 Trump rally. The Democrat settled his bill with the city three months later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
El Paso\u00a0originally charged the Trump campaign $470,417, but late fees to cover lawyers and a private collection firm to recoup the loss have boosted the current bill to close to $570,000.<\/p>\n
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Trump announced early this week that he\u2019d\u00a0tour the Texas border wall at the governor\u2019s invitation on June 30. He called the border an \u201cunmitigated disaster zone\u201d under the Biden administration. Trump failed in his promise to erect a wall along the entire Texas border that he claimed\u00a0Mexico would pay for.<\/p>\n
Abbott wants to complete the wall and has offered $250 million in state taxpayer funds as part of what he calls a \u201cdown payment\u201d to help finish the barrier, which has sparked a storm of controversy.<\/p>\n
Samaniego said that money could be far better spent on health care and on COVID-19 vaccinations.<\/p>\n
The Trump campaign still owes a number of cities money for costs it racked up during Trump\u2019s campaigning. Albuquerque, New Mexico, which hasn\u2019t yet received a penny of the\u00a0$211,000 the Trump campaign owes, sent yet another invoice in April directly to\u00a0Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago golf resort in a last-ditch bid to recoup expenses.<\/p>\n
The nonprofit Center for Public Integrity reported last October that the Trump campaign owed at least $1.82 million in campaign costs to 14 communities.<\/p>\n
Trump and the Trump Organization have a history of\u00a0not paying bills\ufeff\u00a0and have been the target of several lawsuits in a bid to collect money. Trump Organization properties have\u00a0declared bankruptcy six times.<\/p>\n