As Donald Trump plans to insert himself into a July 4th celebration that used to be apolitical pre-Trump, he will also add to the running tab of services for which he has stiffed the District of Columbia.
The last time Trump speechified to a mass audience on the Mall was during his inauguration, and the Trump administration and Congress still haven't reimbursed the District of Columbia for more than $7 million in costs associated with that event. Trump is now adding to the district's burden with his insistence on crashing the July 4th celebration, which will include him making what will surely be an uplifting speech at the Lincoln Memorial (who can forget his soaring “American carnage” inaugural address?).
The district has been compensating for the spending shortfall by raiding special security fund set aside for unexpected events like protests and state funerals. But the Washington Post reports the fund is "now on track to enter the red by this fall."
Administration officials told the Post that D.C. had been granted the money it requested for the inaugural celebration and that it had requested no additional funding. But the city cried B.S., claiming that they had indeed requested additional funding for the inauguration, both before and after the event.
Inauguration overages are reportedly quite common. The difference is, past administrations have bothered to reimburse the district where Trump has stiffed it. Barack Obama's celebration ran over by nearly $9 million but his White House also made up the shortfall in a plan it subsequently submitted to Congress.
Looks like the district is about to be on the hook again and, if past is prologue, the grifter administration ain't paying jack.