Unpaid invoices could keep Trump rallies at smaller Arizona venues

After the Harris-Walz presidential campaign’s stadium-filled rally in Glendale, Arizona, last week, Trump supporters in the state may wonder when they’ll see a similar event for their candidate.

Problem is, that may not be possible.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has had massive rallies in Arizona during previous campaigns—15,000 people filled the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2020 and again at the Country Thunder Festival Grounds in 2022—but his financial circumstances have changed considerably in the time since, and a large-scale event may not be on the table for the former president and convicted felon.

Venues left unpaid

The Trump campaign hasn’t directly paid for a rally in Arizona since January 2020, and has left a trail of unpaid invoices in cities across the state. Initially, Trump wasn’t billed for his use of venues and city services like on-site law enforcement until after his rally. As a result, his campaign left unpaid invoices from 2016 and 2018 totaling roughly $150,000.

To this date, those bills are still unpaid.

“Arizonans expect and deserve leaders who honor their commitments, not someone who leaves them to pick up the tab,” said Arizona Democratic Party Chair Yolanda Bejarano. “This is a reminder that Trump has always been about himself, not the hardworking people of our state.”

In a statement, the city of Mesa made it clear that, while Trump is under no legal obligation to reimburse the city, the additional cost was an unfortunate burden to saddle taxpayers with.

“The City of Mesa has never billed this White House nor any previous administration for costs associated with providing security for the president of the United States. We embrace that obligation,” the statement said. “We believe the Trump 2020 campaign should reimburse our City for those taxpayer dollars, and we have invoiced the campaign accordingly.”

The next rally after he refused to pay Mesa was held at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, where the Arizona Exposition and State Fair Board demanded the $27,000 be paid upfront. The campaign agreed, and that was the last time a Trump rally in Arizona was held—and paid for—by the campaign itself.

Paid for by PACs

Trump spoke at 10 events in Arizona since his January 2020 rally, all of which were paid for by either PACs, private individuals, or outside businesses. As a result, venue sizes have shrunk considerably, and have largely been relegated to airport hangars or churches.

Trump’s PAC, Save America, paid for his two largest events during that time span, but those coffers have since been cleaned out to pay legal fees: At least $83 million in donations has been spent on Trump’s array of court cases since January 2022. The Trump-aligned PAC has shelled out an average of nearly $4 million a month since July 2022 defending the former president in criminal and civil cases, leaving little for actual campaigning.

Trump’s June 2024 rally at Dream City Church in Phoenix was his first event in the state in nearly two years, coinciding with the time period when Save America was spending the most on legal fees. That rally and another held in July at the same location for Trump’s running mate, US Sen. JD Vance, were both paid for by conservative PAC Turning Point USA.

With Save America not footing the bill for Arizona rallies, the campaign’s reliance on Turning Point USA could leave them with the 4,500-capacity Dream City Church as their sole event space, while the Harris campaign fills arenas with triple the attendance, building local enthusiasm, grassroots support, and small-dollar donations.

The Trump campaign and Turning Point USA did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

Conviction frees up funds

But one of Trump’s trials concluded in May—ending with Trump’s conviction on 34 felonies, with sentencing scheduled for September 18, 2024—funds have been freed up. Republican strategist Alex Conant told the Associated Press that this should help bolster Trump’s voter outreach, although a prison sentence could negate that.

“This is going to be a close election,” said Conant. “And to the extent money for lawyers can now be spent on organizers, that’s helpful.”

Trump is currently indicted in three other investigations—for interference in the 2020 federal election, interference in Georgia’s 2020 election, and for keeping highly sensitive classified documents after leaving office—but none are expected to go to trial before the November General Election.

Trump does not currently have any campaign stops planned in Arizona and has announced he will not make any campaign stops until after the Democratic National Convention concludes on August 22, 2024.