Donald Trump has faced recent criticism for failing to pay bills charged by cities after he holds rallies. Presidential candidates’ campaign events often require local governments to spend money and resources to minimize disruption and keep residents and rally attendees safe. Local governments often charge campaigns afterwards for these expenses. Many campaigns pay, although there often is not a way to enforce payment of these bills, because most events do not involve contracts between campaigns and local governments.
Most Americans believe presidential campaigns should pay local governments’ expenses after holding rallies. Three quarters of Americans say that campaigns should pay, including 62% who believe that campaigns should be required to pay. Just 6% of Americans say that campaigns should not pay for local governments’ expenses. There is a modest partisan divide on this issue, although majorities of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all believe campaigns should pay. Democrats are most likely to say campaigns should be required to pay (72%), while Republicans are least likely (53%), but this difference was partially offset by the fact that Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say campaigns should voluntarily pay (21% vs.12%). The share of Americans who say that campaigns should not pay is small regardless of partisanship: just 5% of Democrats, 6% of Independents, and 8% of Republicans believe candidates should not pay local governments’ expenses after campaign events.
Many Americans would view a candidate less favorably if they found out that the candidate had failed to pay for local government expenses after holding a rally in their area. About half of Americans say that they would view a candidate somewhat or much less favorably if that candidate failed to pay local government expenses. The remaining share of Americans largely say that their views would not change (24%) or that they are not sure how this would affect their views (16%). Only 8% of Americans say they would have a more favorable view of a candidate who did not pay local expenses. This matter has a slightly larger partisan divide. Democrats are most likely to say they would view a candidate less favorably for failing to pay local government expenses (62%) while Republicans are the least likely (37%), with Independents falling in between (55%).
About half of Americans say Trump’s habit of failing to pay local expenses after rallies makes them view him less favorably. Americans are more likely to say their view would not change when asked about Trump rather than a hypothetical candidate — 34%, compared to 24% — and less likely to say they are not sure — 11%, compared to 16%. Few Americans (7%) say they view Trump more favorably based on his unpaid expenses.
Partisan divides are sharper on views about Trump's unpaid rally bills than on views about a hypothetical candidate's. Democrats are most likely to say that Trump’s unpaid bills make them view him somewhat or much less favorably (72%), while Republicans are least likely to say this (20%). On the other hand, Republicans are most likely to say his bills do not change their view (58%), and Democrats are the least likely to say this (16%). Independents fall in the middle, but they are more likely to say that unpaid bills make them view Trump less favorably (49%) than they are to say that it doesn’t affect their view (32%). Regardless of partisanship, few Americans view Trump more favorably because he has not paid local government expenses: Only 6% of Democrats, 5% of Independents, and 13% of Republicans say they view Trump somewhat or much more favorably as a result of his unpaid bills.
— Taylor Orth and Carl Bialik contributed to this article
See the results of this poll:
- When presidential candidates hold rallies, it can create expenses such as overtime for police, fire, and city employees. Local governments often bill campaigns for these expenses after they hold events. Do you think campaigns should pay these bills?
- If a presidential candidate held a rally where you live and didn't pay expenses that the local government charged afterwards for holding the rally, would that make your view of the candidate…?
- Donald Trump's campaign has not paid over $700,000 in bills charged by cities after rallies he held during the 2016, 2020, and 2024 elections. Does this make your view of Trump...?
Methodology: The Daily Questions survey was conducted online on October 29, 2024 among 6,039 U.S. adults. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. census region, and political party. The margin of error for the survey is approximately 2%.
Image: Getty
