Mayor Bowser to Trump: ‘You owe DC $9MIL for your festivities’

Trump may believe that last week's Fourth of July celebration on the National Mall was "something special" but this week D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser penned a letter to the president demanding the feds reimburse the city for the excessive resources and support provided for his lavish festivities.

Blue Telusma

Jul 11, 2019

Murial Bowser_TheGrio — Mayor of the District of Columbia Muriel Bowser in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)

Trump may believe that last week’s Fourth of July celebration on the National Mall was “something special” but this week D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser penned a letter to the president demanding the feds reimburse the city for the excessive resources and support provided for his lavish festivities.

According to a local CBS affiliate, in the statement Bowser outlined how events such as the 2017 presidential inauguration and the Salute to America Fourth of July festivities, cost the city $7.3 million and $1.7 million respectively. That comes out to a grand total of approximately $9 million.

“As Mayor of Washington, D.C., my greatest responsibility is to provide for the safety of our residents and national visitors, as well as to lead the region in performing the unique task of providing daily security to our federal leaders and facilitating security at large national events such as the Presidential Inauguration,” Bowser wrote.

D.C. officials say projections confirm that the $1.7 million in expenses from Trump’s July 4th activities will deplete the city’s budget and leave zero dollars in funding for the remainder of the year.

“As we continue to gather estimates for the next Inauguration, we ask for your help with ensuring the residents of the District of Columbia are not asked to cover millions of dollars of federal expenses and are able to maintain our high standards of protection for federal events,” Bowser said.

But not only is Trump unfazed by the hefty price tag, he’s planning to throw another Independence Day “Salute to America” celebration next year.

“It was a wonderful day for all Americans, and based on its tremendous success, we’re just making the decision — and I think we can say we’ve made the decision — to do it again next year and maybe we can say for the foreseeable future,” he said at the beginning of a White House event on environmental leadership.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser requested that the Trump administration commit to fully reimbursing the fund, which provides for public safety at events in DC and response support to terrorist threats or attacks in the district https://t.co/KiOZ2qoGbQ

— CNN (@CNN) July 10, 2019