New York City Should Not Be Footing Bill To Protect Trump

Earlier this week, Trump Tower had to be evacuated because of a suspicious package. In the end, it turned out that the package contained children’s toys and was not a threat. That would normally been the end of it all, but Mayor Bill de Blasio’s press secretary took the opportunity to make a point about the cost that New York City was bearing to protect Trump and his family, asking Trump to help defray the cost of the operation. Now, I am totally opposed to asking citizens to pay extra for the police protection they are already entitled to, but I certainly do understand the de Blasio administration’s frustration with the current set up to protect Trump and his family. The de Blasio administration had asked for $35 million from the federal government in order to offset the cost of protecting Trump Tower. In a classic middle finger to a blue state that provides more tax dollars to the feds than it receives, Congress allocated just $7 million. Even if you believe that de Blasio overstated the cost by 100%, the $7 million is still woefully short of the actual cost of protection. But rather than trying to twist Trump’s arm to make up the difference, why doesn’t be Blasio simply pull back to a normal police presence once the $7 million has been spent. Protecting the President-elect is surely a federal responsibility and it seems unreasonable that New York City should be footing the bill for the job. I’m pretty sure that if de Blasio really called their bluff and pulled back, the federal government would find some emergency money to cover protecting Trump pretty darn fast. This may be the one case where the GOP’s strategy of pushing costs back down to state and local governments could actually be confronted and overcome.