President Donald Trump and his campaign are unhappy about a $530,000 fee associated with his upcoming visit to Minneapolis on Thursday.
On Monday, the Trump campaign issued a statement blasting the fee, saying "The radical leftist mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, is abusing the power of his office and attempting to extort President Trump’s re-election campaign by conjuring a phony and outlandish bill for security in an effort to block a scheduled Keep America Great rally."
Related: VP Pence will visit MN Thursday
President Trump reiterated his frustration in a Tuesday morning tweet.
The lightweight mayor is hurting the great police and other wonderful supporters. 72,000 ticket requests already. Dump Frey and Omar! Make America Great Again! https://t.co/ibTqvSbsbn
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2019Trump's campaign says in the email linked above that the $530,000 price tag was assessed by the City of Minneapolis to Target Center for the rally on Thursday. Target Center in return assessed that fee onto the campaign. Target Center was informed that the U.S. Secret Service is solely responsible for coordinating security and that withholding the use of the arena would be viewed as a breach of contract and result in court action.
Mayor Frey was quick to respond.
Yawn... Welcome to Minneapolis where we pay our bills, we govern with integrity, and we love all of our neighbors. https://t.co/v1cXvoD9uR
— Jacob Frey (@Jacob_Frey) October 8, 2019Trump's tweet indicated that 72,000 tickets had been requested for his event at Target Center on Thursday evening. That amount of people could present a slight prorblem as Target Center's capacity holds just over 19,350 people. Despite the disproportionate, free tickets remain available for Thursday night's rally.
President Trumped announced his plan in late September to hold a rally in Minneapolis on October 10, which drew immediate criticism from mayor Frey.
On October 10, our entire city will stand not behind the President, but behind the communities and people who continue to make our city – and this country – great. pic.twitter.com/IGw2qis3h5
— Jacob Frey (@Jacob_Frey) September 26, 2019Trump's visit continues to draw security concerns. A group called Oath Keepers is recruiting 'security volunteers' for Trump's visit to downtown Minneapolis. Their webpage says, "We need your help to protect Trump Supporters at the upcoming Trump Campaign rally in Minneapolis, MN."
According to their website, Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police, and first responders, who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to “defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
