Trump Campaign Threatens Target Center With Suit Over Security Costs

The campaign to re-elect President Donald Trump has taken aim at Minneapolis’  Target Center, claiming the venue’s demand for $530,000 to cover security costs for a rally was a political ploy. Team Trump is threatening legal action if the venue withholds use of the arena tonight. 

“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,” the campaign wrote in a letter Oct. 7. “Frey’s city government preemptively informed the Target Center that it would be responsible for $530,000 in security and other costs related to the event. The Target Center attempted to pass the costs on to the Trump campaign under threat of withholding the use of the arena. 

“The Trump campaign informed the Target Center 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.”

The letter also cities figures from a 2009 Pioneer Press article that estimated the security costs for a Target Center rally from President Barrack Obama at $20,000. It concludes with language from Trump Campaign lawyers asserting that cancellation of the event by the venue would be a breach of contract. Whether a lawsuit is coming or not will likely be discernible based on whether the event takes place tonight. 

According to the President, the campaign has already received enough requests for tickets to fill the 19,500-capacity Target Center several times over. Political rallies are usually free to attend and attendance is thus not usually tracked by Pollstar. 

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>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! <a href=”https://t.co/ibTqvSbsbn”>https://t.co/ibTqvSbsbn</a></p>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href=”https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181542327711600642?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 8, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Mayor Frey has been critical of Trump in the past and has responded to Trump’s comments on Twitter. 

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Someone tell the President of the United States that he can afford to help pay for the extra time our officers will be putting in while he’s in town. <a href=”https://t.co/bXITaPdW4E”>https://t.co/bXITaPdW4E</a></p>&mdash; Jacob Frey (@Jacob_Frey) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Jacob_Frey/status/1181583946116677633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 8, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Yawn… Welcome to Minneapolis where we pay our bills, we govern with integrity, and we love all of our neighbors. <a href=”https://t.co/v1cXvoD9uR”>https://t.co/v1cXvoD9uR</a></p>&mdash; Jacob Frey (@Jacob_Frey) <a href=”https://twitter.com/Jacob_Frey/status/1181557775236775936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 8, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Target Center was previously managed by AEG Facilities and is now run by ASM Global, the recently formed union of AEG Facilities and SMG. 

AEG owner Phil Anschutz has been a noted contributor to Republican political campaigns and conservative causes. 

Pollstar reached out to AEG and the Target Center for comment, but hadn’t heard back at publication time.