Tensions are escalating between the Trump campaign team and city officials of Minneapolis. Trump’s team threatened to sue the city after Mayor Jacob Frey billed President Trump $530,000 to use the city arena for his campaign rally scheduled for Thursday night. The city has also banned off-duty police officers from wearing uniforms to the Trump rally.

In a statement on Monday night, Trump’s campaign team said that Mayor Frey is “abusing the power of his office” as he is “conjuring a phony and outlandish bill for security.” Trump’s campaign manager Brad Parscale said, “This is an outrageous abuse of power by a liberal mayor trying to deny the rights of his own city’s residents just because he hates the President. People want to hear from their President, and no mayor looking to beef up his résumé for a run for higher office should stand in the way.”

Minneapolis spokesman Casper Hill penned an email stating the $530,000 estimate was based on the same method that they used to determine the costs of events such as the 2018 Super Bowl and the Final Four. The city claims expenses for public safety are expected to be $400,000 and $130,000 would cover the costs of traffic control, lane closure fees, and other miscellaneous costs.

“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,” said Trump’s campaign team in a statement.

The police union had “Cops for Trump” t-shirts made a few days after the police officers were banned from wearing uniforms to political events or in ads in support of political candidates. Lt. Bob Kroll of the great Minneapolis Police Department and the head of the union accused the police department of creating the new policy just in time for Trump’s rally. Kroll says he was told about the ban on September 27, a day after Trump announced his rally at the Target Center.

The city of Rochester’s event last October cost only $76,138, with the campaign paying $26,215 of the bill to hold the rally at the Mayo Civic Center.

In 2009, when the then-President Barack Obama held a campaign rally at the Target Center, police costs only amounted to approximately $20,000.

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