President Donald Trump left his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin without a deal for a cease-fire in Ukraine.
The summit did, however, leave the city of Anchorage with one tangible result: more than $200,000 in municipal expenses, largely on law enforcement workers, according to a spokeswoman for Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.
The spokeswoman, Emily Goodykoontz, said the city will seek reimbursement from the Trump administration. A White House spokeswoman referred questions to the U.S. Secret Service; a Secret Service spokesman, Anthony Guglielmi, did not directly answer a question about whether it will agree to Anchorage’s request.
During Trump’s first term, the federal government reimbursed Palm Beach County some $40 million a year for protection the municipality provided the president while he was at his Mat-a-Lago estate. And in July, Palm Beach County officials said they would ask for payment out of a $300 million appropriation in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act dedicated to reimbursing local expenses for protecting any formally designated “residence of the president.”
But it’s not immediately clear whether that pot of money can be used to compensate the city of Anchorage, where Trump only briefly visited a military base for the summit.
Guglielmi said that conversations about reimbursement would remain “between the Secret Service and our local partners.”
Trump’s past visits to municipalities as a candidate, meanwhile, have resulted in an array of unpaid invoices sent to his campaign.
In Erie, Pa.; El Paso, Texas; Albuquerque, N.M.; Wildwood, N.J.; Missoula County, Mont.; and Mesa, Ariz., among other places, local governments have tried to compel Trump’s campaign committee to pay up — to no avail. Some have been waiting years for payment from the committee, or from the U.S. Secret Service.
The city of Green Bay, Wis., sent invoices related to local police, fire, public works, parks and traffic services across four appearances during 2024 by candidate Trump and vice presidential candidate JD Vance. Total bill: $56,204.
The Trump campaign, in May 2024, told the city that it “does not pay for policy or security-related invoices,” according to Green Bay spokesman Michael Bergman. The campaign referred the city’s requests to the Secret Service, which also hasn’t paid, he said.
“We have sent demand letters, phone calls, and made public statements,” Bergman said. “We have received no response.”
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ 2024 campaign also has $1,822 in unpaid invoices from Green Bay.
In Spokane, Wash., local officials say they’ve simply given up on Trump, and other presidential candidates. The Trump campaign still has a $65,124 tab for police overtime costs stemming from a visit in 2016, while Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign owes $33,318 and Hillary Clinton’s campaign owes $2,793.
“While there are outstanding balances, we do not anticipate payment and are not actively pursuing collection efforts,” Spokane spokesperson Erin Hut told Northern Journal.
Since entering presidential politics in 2015, Trump, a Republican, has repeatedly touted his law-and-order bona fides, vowing to support police and “back the blue.” More recently, an April executive order Trump signed called for “empowering state and local law enforcement,” including increasing pay and benefits for officers.
In Anchorage, summit-related expenses in excess of $200,000 would be a “huge hit to the budget,” said Chris Constant, who chairs the city’s Assembly.
Yearly spending by the city exceeds $600 million, with more than $100 million for the police department alone. But Assembly members can still engage in prolonged debate over individual budget items of $100,000 or less.
“Twenty or 30 grand, I might feel okay with. Fifty grand, starting to get pretty real. But $200,000, that’s a real painful amount of money,” said Constant, a Democrat. “That is how many child care units of service? How many police responses is that to criminal activities happening in the city, or homeless camps?”
Guglielmi, the Secret Service spokesman, said Congress has not authorized his agency to issue reimbursements.
“State and local law enforcement play a crucial role in our ability to effectively safeguard the president and other Secret Service protectees,” he said in an email. “However, the U.S. Secret Service currently lacks a mechanism to reimburse local governments for their support during protective events.”
Constant said expenses for last month’s summit could have been much higher, but were limited because Trump and Putin did not leave the Anchorage military base that hosted the meeting.
Nonetheless, he said, city employees had to be prepared for duty that day, even if they were physically distant from the summit itself. He said he spoke with an Anchorage law enforcement worker who spent the day of the event on call while otherwise recruiting at the Alaska State Fair, far outside city limits.
“Her arm was in the car, ready to drive to town. Everybody was on and ready, right?” he said. “It’s not fair that the local government should have to cover the federal government’s bill. They don’t even have to balance their budget.”
Nathaniel Herz reported from Anchorage and Dave Levinthal reported from Washington, D.C.
Nathaniel Herz welcomes tips at natherz@gmail.com or (907) 793-0312. This article was originally published in Northern Journal, a newsletter from Herz. Subscribe at this link.