If you're not following the twists and turns of Trump's campaign rally in Minneapolis on Thursday (I don't blame you), I'll try to catch you up in (just a few!) tweets (THREAD)
Trump's campaign is rallying in Minnesota on Oct. 10, the president's first rally since the impeachment inquiry began. He picked the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis as the venue, which immediately drew rebuke from local officials, like DFL Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey
Frey quickly said while he could not stop the visit, Trump’s “message of hatred will never be welcome in Minneapolis.” The Target Center is owned by the city of Minneapolis but run by a private company, AEG Worldwide, which has a contract with the campaign.
On Monday,Trump's campaign said AEG demanded $530k upfront for security and other fees in order to secure the Target Center. The campaign said the fees were "outlandish" and "phony" and is now threatening to sue AEG for breach of contract if they're blocked from rallying.
Trump’s campaign put the blame on Mayor Frey, who they said pressured AEG to require the fees up front because he opposes the president. Trump also tweeted about it
Frey responded. Officials in Minneapolis and other cities across the country are frustrated with the campaign because it doesn’t reimburse them for costs associated with his rallies.
The trouble is, the FEC doesn't have a rule requiring federal candidates to pay back cities for events like this. Trump's campaign is threatening to sue the Target Center for breach of contract as early as this morning if the city/venue try to block them from rallying Thursday.
This broke late last night. @MPRnews is following the response from the city, and the Trump campaign put an 11 a.m. deadline (they didn't specify a time zone) to begin legal action if the dispute is not resolved mprnews.org/story/2019/10/…
@MPRnews Shortly after the 11a.m. deadline, Trump's campaign manager tweeted that they will "seek all legal remedies to force the Mayor to allow our constitutional rights," but there's still no word on any official legal action taken against the Target Center yet
@MPRnews At a press conference, Mayor Jacob Frey says “it’s not extortion to expect someone to pay their bills." He said $400k of the total cost to Trump campaign is for extra security and $140k for other fees
@MPRnews Frey says there's a "big difference" between 2009 Obama rally for ACA at the Target Center and Trump campaign rally (Obama visit cost the city $20k compared to $540k for Trump rally). He said the city has also changed the way it handles large events over the last decade.
@MPRnews Frey says he has not been in touch directly with AEG or the Trump campaign about the situation. The city owns Target Center but AEG runs it. AEG has a contract with the Trump campaign and will work out the situation, according to Frey.
@MPRnews And now this from Trump's campaign manager: Use of the Target Center on Thursday is back on, with no extra fees
@MPRnews Latest from Mayor Frey: “In keeping with our contract with AEG, taxpayers should be reimbursed for city-incurred costs resulting from the president’s visit. In the days ahead, I will be meeting with city leadership and my council colleagues to decide upon the appropriate path..."
@MPRnews And after all that, we're back to the status quo.
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mprnews.org/story/2019/10/…
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(I think )
mprnews.org/story/2019/10/…
